TSA at ORD: Passport "scrutiny"
Mar 6, 2008, 7:05 pm
#31
Suspended
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 22,778
I transited ORD last week, on Thursday, coming home from NRT with a connection to SPI and bliss at home.
At the Terminal 2 line, the TSA ID checker took my boarding pass and passport, and instead of the cursory matching of names and faces, he proceeded to flip through each and every page of my passport. He also inspected each of the visas (India, China, Austria) with a magnifying loupe, as well as the picture page.
I think he was trying to see if I was passing a fake passport, full of visas, stamps, extra pages, etc., from 5 years of travel. It didn't hurt me at all, but I found it rather odd and invasive that he needed to examine my Indian visa in order to let me through to security in Chicago.
I <3 the TSA
At the Terminal 2 line, the TSA ID checker took my boarding pass and passport, and instead of the cursory matching of names and faces, he proceeded to flip through each and every page of my passport. He also inspected each of the visas (India, China, Austria) with a magnifying loupe, as well as the picture page.
I think he was trying to see if I was passing a fake passport, full of visas, stamps, extra pages, etc., from 5 years of travel. It didn't hurt me at all, but I found it rather odd and invasive that he needed to examine my Indian visa in order to let me through to security in Chicago.
I <3 the TSA
Mar 6, 2008, 9:53 pm
#32
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Mar 7, 2008, 12:30 am
#33
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A high use passport (i.e., used for a lot of entries and exits) might be an indication that the passport is being "shared" or "passed around" for use by more than one person to enter and exit a country or countries.
Mar 7, 2008, 5:26 am
#34
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Ok, you might be right that they don't take away passports per se. However, if you find a passport that looks, let say odd (e.g. heavy use or something like that), that makes you question something about the document, what is the procedure. My understanding is that it is not given back to the person presenting the ID. At this time isn't it up to TSA what to do with ID. (I assume that you call a LEO, and pass it to them) However, it is TSA that has "taken it away". Now I have heard instances where a LEO questions a document as well (NEXUS, CANPASS, and odd ball (i.e. not a DL or Millitary) government ID's), and asks for another, lets the person go but keeps the questionable document until such time as the document can be verified as authentic. In this case with your passport (if that is the document) the odds of you ever seeing it again are slim and none.
Mar 7, 2008, 5:31 am
#35
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The US passport is proclaimed to be the property of the US government too.
Mar 7, 2008, 7:13 am
#36
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: BOS and vicinity
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Posts: 3,725
They've made various efforts to extract it from the airlines. But at least the airlines who cooperate with this un-American tracking have to be concerned about privacy lawsuits from the victims and bad PR. Back in the CAPPS-II days, I think the airlines tried to get some sort of immunity for blatantly violating their stated privacy policies (kind of like the whole telecom debacle now); I'm not sure if they had any success.
Mar 7, 2008, 10:32 am
#37
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During the secondary they ask for my passport again and then begin to write things down. I asked them why they were recording information from my passport and I was told that they needed to do so for their record keeping. I asked them how that information would be used and they told me that they couldn't disclose that information. I indicated that what they were doing was in violation of the Federal Privacy Act and I got a blank stare in return.
I asked for a supervisor (who admittedly was very friendly in demeanor) and asked her why I was selected for a secondary and why they were recording information from my passport. She answered that the reason why I was selected for a secondary was because my passport was expired. I showed her the expiration date that was valid until Nov 18, 2008 and she then seemed confused. She went to talk to the ID checker and then came back and showed me a page in my passport that had an expired BRAZILIAN visa. My passport has 5 different Visas from Brazil, 1 from India, 1 from China and 2 from Ghana, not to mention dozens of stamps from every continent (except Antarctica).
I asked how in the world that an expired Brazilian visa had to do with anything related to me flying out of Burlington, Vermont. Her response was "we are new here to checking ID's and are still getting the hang of it". I then asked her about the Privacy Act implications of recording my passport information and she said she honestly didn't know what I was referring to. At this point I was running late for my flight so I collected my belongings and suggested to her that she and her team should learn the laws of the land and how to properly do their job. How in the world this charade increases security is beyond me.
Last edited by brj_slc; Mar 7, 2008 at 10:38 am
Mar 7, 2008, 11:40 am
#38
Join Date: Dec 2002
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I have been working with acronyms a lot lately. Somehow ICE/CBP became ICS. though i do like donsig's suggestion.
Mar 7, 2008, 11:57 am
#39
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: boca raton, florida
Posts: 621
A related thing happened to me a few weeks ago. I was flying out of BTV and the ID checker was scrutinizing my passport (which I use in lieu of a drivers license since it doesn't have any personal information other than passport number) including flipping through several pages (it is quite full as I have had to add pages twice). She marks a '1' on my boarding pass and sure enough I get a secondary.
During the secondary they ask for my passport again and then begin to write things down. I asked them why they were recording information from my passport and I was told that they needed to do so for their record keeping. I asked them how that information would be used and they told me that they couldn't disclose that information. I indicated that what they were doing was in violation of the Federal Privacy Act and I got a blank stare in return.
I asked for a supervisor (who admittedly was very friendly in demeanor) and asked her why I was selected for a secondary and why they were recording information from my passport. She answered that the reason why I was selected for a secondary was because my passport was expired. I showed her the expiration date that was valid until Nov 18, 2008 and she then seemed confused. She went to talk to the ID checker and then came back and showed me a page in my passport that had an expired BRAZILIAN visa. My passport has 5 different Visas from Brazil, 1 from India, 1 from China and 2 from Ghana, not to mention dozens of stamps from every continent (except Antarctica).
I asked how in the world that an expired Brazilian visa had to do with anything related to me flying out of Burlington, Vermont. Her response was "we are new here to checking ID's and are still getting the hang of it". I then asked her about the Privacy Act implications of recording my passport information and she said she honestly didn't know what I was referring to. At this point I was running late for my flight so I collected my belongings and suggested to her that she and her team should learn the laws of the land and how to properly do their job. How in the world this charade increases security is beyond me.
During the secondary they ask for my passport again and then begin to write things down. I asked them why they were recording information from my passport and I was told that they needed to do so for their record keeping. I asked them how that information would be used and they told me that they couldn't disclose that information. I indicated that what they were doing was in violation of the Federal Privacy Act and I got a blank stare in return.
I asked for a supervisor (who admittedly was very friendly in demeanor) and asked her why I was selected for a secondary and why they were recording information from my passport. She answered that the reason why I was selected for a secondary was because my passport was expired. I showed her the expiration date that was valid until Nov 18, 2008 and she then seemed confused. She went to talk to the ID checker and then came back and showed me a page in my passport that had an expired BRAZILIAN visa. My passport has 5 different Visas from Brazil, 1 from India, 1 from China and 2 from Ghana, not to mention dozens of stamps from every continent (except Antarctica).
I asked how in the world that an expired Brazilian visa had to do with anything related to me flying out of Burlington, Vermont. Her response was "we are new here to checking ID's and are still getting the hang of it". I then asked her about the Privacy Act implications of recording my passport information and she said she honestly didn't know what I was referring to. At this point I was running late for my flight so I collected my belongings and suggested to her that she and her team should learn the laws of the land and how to properly do their job. How in the world this charade increases security is beyond me.
I would have waited for an apology by the TSA screener travel document checker. And gone thru line again if necessary. This does not stop until we rub their noses in it.
"we are new here to checking ID's and are still getting the hang of it" does not do it. TSA has been using that excuse for over 5 years now.
Mar 7, 2008, 12:00 pm
#40
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Join Date: Mar 2002
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Posts: 14,165
DARN! Posted the "Week At A Glance" Too Early!
TSA Week At A Glance -- Our Version
I would have had two more entries if I hadn't been so quick to pull the trigger -- Lesson learned!
2 acts of Screener incompetence -- Inability to comprehend US Passport & ignorance of the Privacy Act
1 Privacy Act violation by a supervisor
I would have had two more entries if I hadn't been so quick to pull the trigger -- Lesson learned!
2 acts of Screener incompetence -- Inability to comprehend US Passport & ignorance of the Privacy Act
1 Privacy Act violation by a supervisor
A related thing happened to me a few weeks ago. I was flying out of BTV and the ID checker was scrutinizing my passport (which I use in lieu of a drivers license since it doesn't have any personal information other than passport number) including flipping through several pages (it is quite full as I have had to add pages twice). She marks a '1' on my boarding pass and sure enough I get a secondary.
During the secondary they ask for my passport again and then begin to write things down. I asked them why they were recording information from my passport and I was told that they needed to do so for their record keeping. I asked them how that information would be used and they told me that they couldn't disclose that information. I indicated that what they were doing was in violation of the Federal Privacy Act and I got a blank stare in return.
I asked for a supervisor (who admittedly was very friendly in demeanor) and asked her why I was selected for a secondary and why they were recording information from my passport. She answered that the reason why I was selected for a secondary was because my passport was expired. I showed her the expiration date that was valid until Nov 18, 2008 and she then seemed confused. She went to talk to the ID checker and then came back and showed me a page in my passport that had an expired BRAZILIAN visa. My passport has 5 different Visas from Brazil, 1 from India, 1 from China and 2 from Ghana, not to mention dozens of stamps from every continent (except Antarctica).
I asked how in the world that an expired Brazilian visa had to do with anything related to me flying out of Burlington, Vermont. Her response was "we are new here to checking ID's and are still getting the hang of it". I then asked her about the Privacy Act implications of recording my passport information and she said she honestly didn't know what I was referring to. At this point I was running late for my flight so I collected my belongings and suggested to her that she and her team should learn the laws of the land and how to properly do their job. How in the world this charade increases security is beyond me.
During the secondary they ask for my passport again and then begin to write things down. I asked them why they were recording information from my passport and I was told that they needed to do so for their record keeping. I asked them how that information would be used and they told me that they couldn't disclose that information. I indicated that what they were doing was in violation of the Federal Privacy Act and I got a blank stare in return.
I asked for a supervisor (who admittedly was very friendly in demeanor) and asked her why I was selected for a secondary and why they were recording information from my passport. She answered that the reason why I was selected for a secondary was because my passport was expired. I showed her the expiration date that was valid until Nov 18, 2008 and she then seemed confused. She went to talk to the ID checker and then came back and showed me a page in my passport that had an expired BRAZILIAN visa. My passport has 5 different Visas from Brazil, 1 from India, 1 from China and 2 from Ghana, not to mention dozens of stamps from every continent (except Antarctica).
I asked how in the world that an expired Brazilian visa had to do with anything related to me flying out of Burlington, Vermont. Her response was "we are new here to checking ID's and are still getting the hang of it". I then asked her about the Privacy Act implications of recording my passport information and she said she honestly didn't know what I was referring to. At this point I was running late for my flight so I collected my belongings and suggested to her that she and her team should learn the laws of the land and how to properly do their job. How in the world this charade increases security is beyond me.
Mar 7, 2008, 12:13 pm
#41
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 456
Originally Posted by Cee
Until the black light crap was started, I didn't have a problem if someone hung on to their I.D. as long as I could see what I needed to see.
Last edited by myrgirl; Mar 7, 2008 at 12:13 pm Reason: coding
Mar 7, 2008, 2:40 pm
#42
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Join Date: Jul 2001
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I transited ORD last week, on Thursday, coming home from NRT with a connection to SPI and bliss at home.
At the Terminal 2 line, the TSA ID checker took my boarding pass and passport, and instead of the cursory matching of names and faces, he proceeded to flip through each and every page of my passport. He also inspected each of the visas (India, China, Austria) with a magnifying loupe, as well as the picture page.
I think he was trying to see if I was passing a fake passport, full of visas, stamps, extra pages, etc., from 5 years of travel. It didn't hurt me at all, but I found it rather odd and invasive that he needed to examine my Indian visa in order to let me through to security in Chicago.
I <3 the TSA
At the Terminal 2 line, the TSA ID checker took my boarding pass and passport, and instead of the cursory matching of names and faces, he proceeded to flip through each and every page of my passport. He also inspected each of the visas (India, China, Austria) with a magnifying loupe, as well as the picture page.
I think he was trying to see if I was passing a fake passport, full of visas, stamps, extra pages, etc., from 5 years of travel. It didn't hurt me at all, but I found it rather odd and invasive that he needed to examine my Indian visa in order to let me through to security in Chicago.
I <3 the TSA
If he gives you any guff call for an LEO. We simply must put a stop to this crap. Let nothing like this go unchallenged.
Mar 8, 2008, 8:20 pm
#43
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Sacramento, Ca USA
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A related thing happened to me a few weeks ago. I was flying out of BTV and the ID checker was scrutinizing my passport (which I use in lieu of a drivers license since it doesn't have any personal information other than passport number) including flipping through several pages (it is quite full as I have had to add pages twice). She marks a '1' on my boarding pass and sure enough I get a secondary.
During the secondary they ask for my passport again and then begin to write things down. I asked them why they were recording information from my passport and I was told that they needed to do so for their record keeping. I asked them how that information would be used and they told me that they couldn't disclose that information. I indicated that what they were doing was in violation of the Federal Privacy Act and I got a blank stare in return.
I asked for a supervisor (who admittedly was very friendly in demeanor) and asked her why I was selected for a secondary and why they were recording information from my passport. She answered that the reason why I was selected for a secondary was because my passport was expired. I showed her the expiration date that was valid until Nov 18, 2008 and she then seemed confused. She went to talk to the ID checker and then came back and showed me a page in my passport that had an expired BRAZILIAN visa. My passport has 5 different Visas from Brazil, 1 from India, 1 from China and 2 from Ghana, not to mention dozens of stamps from every continent (except Antarctica).
I asked how in the world that an expired Brazilian visa had to do with anything related to me flying out of Burlington, Vermont. Her response was "we are new here to checking ID's and are still getting the hang of it". I then asked her about the Privacy Act implications of recording my passport information and she said she honestly didn't know what I was referring to. At this point I was running late for my flight so I collected my belongings and suggested to her that she and her team should learn the laws of the land and how to properly do their job. How in the world this charade increases security is beyond me.
During the secondary they ask for my passport again and then begin to write things down. I asked them why they were recording information from my passport and I was told that they needed to do so for their record keeping. I asked them how that information would be used and they told me that they couldn't disclose that information. I indicated that what they were doing was in violation of the Federal Privacy Act and I got a blank stare in return.
I asked for a supervisor (who admittedly was very friendly in demeanor) and asked her why I was selected for a secondary and why they were recording information from my passport. She answered that the reason why I was selected for a secondary was because my passport was expired. I showed her the expiration date that was valid until Nov 18, 2008 and she then seemed confused. She went to talk to the ID checker and then came back and showed me a page in my passport that had an expired BRAZILIAN visa. My passport has 5 different Visas from Brazil, 1 from India, 1 from China and 2 from Ghana, not to mention dozens of stamps from every continent (except Antarctica).
I asked how in the world that an expired Brazilian visa had to do with anything related to me flying out of Burlington, Vermont. Her response was "we are new here to checking ID's and are still getting the hang of it". I then asked her about the Privacy Act implications of recording my passport information and she said she honestly didn't know what I was referring to. At this point I was running late for my flight so I collected my belongings and suggested to her that she and her team should learn the laws of the land and how to properly do their job. How in the world this charade increases security is beyond me.
Of course, we are talking about BTV here - they don't get to see passports that often
...what a crock...amazing
Mar 9, 2008, 2:10 pm
#44
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Mar 9, 2008, 2:35 pm
#45
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