Originally Posted by Mats (Post 13155851)

eyecue,
I respect what you're saying, but I have to say that this particular friend is particularly sane and unlikely to exaggerate. She is highly-educated, professional, and I've known her for 10 years.

Yes, there are always people who embellish their stories, or even fabricate them. This is not one of those cases.

Originally Posted by Batmanuel (Post 13153983)

I agree with tsadude... those questions, and especially the "conference call", are only used when somebody doesn't have an ID.

Originally Posted by Superguy (Post 13155827)

But as we know, procedures vary from airport to airport. TSA has stated as such. :rolleyes:
....

Originally Posted by Mats (Post 13151786)

A good friend of mine just had a terrible experience at Detroit. She is a Midwesterner living on the East Coast, a highly-educated professional, attractive, usually well-dressed, and mild-mannered. She was visiting her parents and flying home. Nonstop, domestic flight. She did not have any problems with Secure Flight or watch lists.

She is a frequent flyer, and has taken the same trip many times. Her name, demeanor, accent, clothing, etc. are unmistakably American.

She is not prone to exaggeration, and doesn't usually complain about airport security. She happened to mention this to me because she knows that I fly a lot.

After uneventful check-in and ID inspection, she went to get in line for the x-ray and metal detector.

A BDO pulled her out of line, and she was taken to an interview room. She was told that her behavior "aroused suspicion" (perhaps not in those words.) The BDO and another agent conference called some TSA phone number. They asked her repeatedly about the nature of her trip, how often she'd lived at each address, the nature of her work, her father's birthdate, her mother's maiden name, and... my favorite... the last four digits of her FATHER's social security number. (She said, "How would I know that?")

She was eventually released and allowed to fly. I don't know if she had selectee screening, but I think that's probably likely.

I used to think that behavioral profiling made some sort of sense. But now I'm reconsidering. The best I can imagine is that the BDO's are new, newly trained, and want to test out their skills.

They may have actually picked her just because it would be less work: she's young, articulate, etc... so the background check would be simpler and they could act as if they're doing something. (In random screening, it's easier to pick the guy with a small bag and light clothing.)

She's not a complainer, and just wanted to get home. But I find this incident troubling. Of course I wasn't there, perhaps my friend had completely gone nuts and was acting erratically (I strongly doubt that.) There may have been a specific threat about young women traveling alone, as there was prior to Pan Am 103 (I doubt that as well... and there are a lot of women traveling alone through Detroit.)

I hope that this was a one-time incident.

Originally Posted by AlexNJ (Post 13155951)

Spiff - when requesting the GSC, don't forget about what response I got from TSA at Bangor, ME - "We don't call the airline." and when I asked for the FSD - "He's not coming down and he doesn't have to."

Originally Posted by Mats (Post 13151786)

A good friend of mine just had a terrible experience at Detroit. She is a Midwesterner living on the East Coast, a highly-educated professional, attractive, usually well-dressed, and mild-mannered. She was visiting her parents and flying home. Nonstop, domestic flight. She did not have any problems with Secure Flight or watch lists.

She is a frequent flyer, and has taken the same trip many times. Her name, demeanor, accent, clothing, etc. are unmistakably American.

She is not prone to exaggeration, and doesn't usually complain about airport security. She happened to mention this to me because she knows that I fly a lot.

After uneventful check-in and ID inspection, she went to get in line for the x-ray and metal detector.

A BDO pulled her out of line, and she was taken to an interview room. She was told that her behavior "aroused suspicion" (perhaps not in those words.) The BDO and another agent conference called some TSA phone number. They asked her repeatedly about the nature of her trip, how often she'd lived at each address, the nature of her work, her father's birthdate, her mother's maiden name, and... my favorite... the last four digits of her FATHER's social security number. (She said, "How would I know that?")

She was eventually released and allowed to fly. I don't know if she had selectee screening, but I think that's probably likely.

I used to think that behavioral profiling made some sort of sense. But now I'm reconsidering. The best I can imagine is that the BDO's are new, newly trained, and want to test out their skills.

They may have actually picked her just because it would be less work: she's young, articulate, etc... so the background check would be simpler and they could act as if they're doing something. (In random screening, it's easier to pick the guy with a small bag and light clothing.)

She's not a complainer, and just wanted to get home. But I find this incident troubling. Of course I wasn't there, perhaps my friend had completely gone nuts and was acting erratically (I strongly doubt that.) There may have been a specific threat about young women traveling alone, as there was prior to Pan Am 103 (I doubt that as well... and there are a lot of women traveling alone through Detroit.)

I hope that this was a one-time incident.

Originally Posted by thebat (Post 13152026)

This was deduced on FT some time ago. That people were detained for secondary screening because they were less likely to refuse, than that they were actually suspicious. Sad commentary indeed.

Originally Posted by Wally Bird (Post 13152040)

One-time for her hopefully, but I'm certain other passengers are subjected to this bull on a daily basis.

Behavioral profiling does not work in an airport termianl environment. At best, it may be useful as an adjunct to conducting interviews; for picking people out of a line up it is useless even for trained, competent practitioners. The TSA's "officers" don't come close to that definitiion.

Originally Posted by eyecue (Post 13155551)

I dont believe the story. It is anecdotal. There are just too many "friend of mine, or friend of my second cousins uncle, etc."
The methods as described dont meet with modis operandi of the BDO's.

Originally Posted by janey (Post 13153364)

Besides being absolutely useless (how would they know if she's telling the truth or just making up answers?), a number of those questions are used for security purposes (banking websites, etc.). I would feel very uncomfortable sharing that kind of info with someone who already has my name and possibly my address.

Originally Posted by knotyeagle (Post 13157925)

How come I'm never so lucky to get a BDO to try that with me? Best I ever got was lead screener Grieto in AUS last October who told me he was not going to release me until I told him my home phone number (he had already searched my then cleared wallet for my driver's license).

I'll have to try harder I guess.

Originally Posted by AlexNJ (Post 13155951)

Spiff - when requesting the GSC, don't forget about what response I got from TSA at Bangor, ME - "We don't call the airline." and when I asked for the FSD - "He's not coming down and he doesn't have to."

Originally Posted by tsadude1 (Post 13157099)

I guess that there is only one question left.......is she really hot :D

Originally Posted by tsadude1 (Post 13157099)

I guess that there is only one question left.......is she really hot :D

Originally Posted by Yaatri (Post 13159647)

Are you suggesting she was picked for that reason? What happened to the behaviour claim? :rolleyes:

Originally Posted by Boggie Dog (Post 13159008)

Is this an appropriate question?