watchListed

How did the TSA get my name? And how do I get unlisted?

By Hanah Cho

September 28, 2008

I suspect my name, or some variation of it, was on the government's terrorist watch list that flags airplane travelers.

Federal officials can't tell me for sure. But a Southwest Airlines ticket agent who questioned me this year on a trip to Arizona suggested I work something out with the Transportation Security Administration.

I rarely can print out a boarding pass online. The U.S. Embassy was notified before I could get through security in Shanghai this summer. And I have been stopped enough times to question the randomness of secondary screening.

I'm often left frustrated by the uncertainty: It's strange to be singled out as a "highly profiled" individual and told to step aside while airport officials verify that you're really you.

It's a little like getting pulled over for a traffic violation: You're anxious, nervous and annoyed. Except I'm a law-abiding citizen. Really.

It happened in August, while I waited to be cleared to fly back to the U.S. from Shanghai. A ticket agent told me the airline needed to call the embassy. She handed my passport to another official. I heard him on the phone, dictating my birth date and other personal information. (My husband, on the other hand, had no problem getting a boarding pass.)

Is there really a terrorist named Hanah Cho? (I hope not.) Or some variation of my name?

So how did a 30-year-old Jersey native get caught up in this web of frustration?

I have no idea.

The government won't reveal who is on the terrorist list, citing national security. But they also can't tell you if you're not on the list, even if you're experiencing screening questions like I have.

So there is no way to find out how your name is connected to the watch list. And that is the crux of my frustration and that of many others in a similar bind.

"They're on the list, and they don't understand why," says Kevin Maguire, chief executive and president of the National Business Travel Association, which is advocating changes to the current system designed to clear people snagged by watch-list misidentification cases. "Even if they make an inquiry, they don't get an answer to why."

Airlines screen passengers using subsets of the watch list, compiled and administered by the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center. The Transportation Security Administration provides the subset lists - called no-fly and selectee - to the airlines, which are responsible for checking passenger names against them.

The no-fly list is exactly what it implies - you can't board a plane.

The selectee list, however, includes individuals who must undergo additional screening before they can fly. And it's the main source of aggravation because the list reportedly includes children, members of Congress (most famously, Ted Kennedy) and individuals with such common names as Bob Cunningham. (A Southwest ticket agent by the same name told me this when I explained my predicament during check-in.)

But TSA says these individuals are not on the watch list, which the agency says is a vital tool to keep terrorist threats off airplanes.

Rather, as the Department of Homeland Security explains it, "many people are erroneously told or led to believe that they are on a watch list during a screening process, when in fact they are merely experiencing a delay caused by a name similarity to a person who is on the watch list."

The ACLU says the watch list contains more than 1 million names now, an assertion that the TSA disputes. Government officials say there are 400,000 names on the list and fewer than 50,000 individuals on the no-fly and selectee lists.

But misidentification continues for many innocent travelers. Each airline collects passenger information differently and has its own process for screening travelers. That often leads to inconsistencies.

At the ticket counter, you have to provide proof to show that you're not the one on the list. And you also can be flagged for secondary screening.