Aviation Security

No-Fly List and Passenger Pre-Screening


    The No-Fly List is basically a list that is created by various algorithms and research intelligence from both the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Federal Bureau Investigation (FBI), to select different people that are not allowed to fly within and in and out of the United States of America. 
The No Fly List is a small subset of the U.S. government Terrorist Screening Database (also known as the terrorist watchlist) that contains the identity information of known or suspected terrorists. On the list, there were 16,000 names in 2011 and it continued to grow to approximately 47,000 in 2013. Today, there are roughly about 680,000 that are thought to be linked with terrorism. The list was created in 1997 as a consular aid, and it was repurposed and expanded after the 9/11 attacks.
This system is meant to either not let people on board airplanes at all, and/or to be thoroughly checked before they board anything flight. This system, together with other ways of defending against terrorism, seems to have been working since the last terrorist attack was 11 years ago on the 9th of September.
The No-Fly List has some drawbacks, for example, if your name is similar to one on the No-fly List database, you are going to be investigated, and go through an undesirable experience, where you might get asked some questions. If this system is only based upon names, someone could say that it is easy to crack, simply by changing names or getting a fake passport, and it could be true. This system is made to aid other forms of dealing with terrorism and is not the only way to stop it. With today's technology, face recognition is something that could be more effective than a name database, there is no way around it, people boarding aircraft need to go through a face recognition database, just like your phone face recognition, if someone is trying to access your phone they need your face to unlock it, on the contrary, it won't unlock.

References

Bruce Schneier (2008). The TSA's useless photo ID rules. Los Angeles Times. 
    https://www.latimes.com/la-oe-schneier28-2008aug28-story.html

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (2022). DHS Traveler Redress Inquiry Program.
    https://www.tsa.gov/travel/passenger-support/travel-redress-program

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