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Terror tag weighs down travellers

Ann Davis, a spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), says the agency is sensitive to the problems travellers face when they are “misidentified”.

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NEW YORK: Does the security drill at US airports really make you wonder? Chances are high that if you are routinely subjected to extra airport security or unable to print boarding passes for airline flights at US airport kiosks, your name has somehow got mixed up with those on Uncle Sam’s bulging terrorist watch lists.

Ann Davis, a spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), says the agency is sensitive to the problems travellers face when they are “misidentified”. The Terrorist Screening Database now has over 700,000 names, including many common Indian and South Asian names.

“Misidentified travellers from anywhere in the world can file a complaint with us. It is an annoyance. We are very sensitive to the problems they face. Once we receive a complaint we try to resolve the case as quickly as possible,” Davis told DNA.

According to the agency, a foreign traveller who feels targeted should file an online complaint on TSA’s redress program at www.dhs.gov/trip or mail a complaint to the agency’s redress office.

But media reports point out that the Traveller Redress Inquiry Program, better known as TRIP, which was launched last February has a crushing backlog of appeals. Congressional leaders have called on Homeland Security to come up with a speedier appeal system that will help innocent travellers clear their names.

The Wall Street Journal noted that even Senator Edward Kennedy was tagged for extra screening along with toddlers and military veterans with the same names as suspected terrorists on the watch list.

“So many people are being ensnared by this antiquated process. We are not becoming any safer as a result of this level of scrutiny, but we are losing civil liberties,” US representative Yvette Clarke (Democrat-New York), told reporters.

The Homeland Security Department says it gets nearly 2,000 requests a month from people who want to have their names cleared. The average processing time is roughly 40 days. However, some individuals who have been able to clear their names say airlines still give them a “terrible hard time” because they don’t have updated lists.

“I have been placed in a cleared list but I always get security pat-downs and a barrage of questions. The airline reservation systems seem to be working with old information,” said Gurinderjeet Singh who owns a hardware store in the US.   

In an effort to get rid of glitches, TSA is developing a more sophisticated screening system called “Secure Flight” that should cut down on the number of people mistakenly tagged for extra security. The new system will include more personal data like birthdates and not rely so heavily on names. Under Secure Flight, the watch list management will be done by the government and not by the airlines.

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