TSA SOP re: airport ID requirements provided to IDP via FOIA request
#16
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I didn't ask the first time. That was The Identity Project. I'm not affiliated with them, but am grateful for the work they do.
Today, I submitted a FOIA request to DHS for copies of any documents pertaining to TSA policies regarding discovery and verification of identities of passengers by TSA staff at airports in the United States.
Today, I submitted a FOIA request to DHS for copies of any documents pertaining to TSA policies regarding discovery and verification of identities of passengers by TSA staff at airports in the United States.
Thank you for pursuing this further.
#17
Join Date: Aug 2008
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Originally Posted by Andy1369
Dude, what kind of changes?
Minor changes are, to me, internal things that have no bearing on passengers. Major changes, in my personal opinion and definition of them, would be things that influence the public's experience as they pass through the checkpoint.
#18
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Does the *new* TSA SOP match what TSA says publicly about ID requirements?
Dean, does the current SOP say anything about what to do about people who decline to present credentials? Does it make any differentiation between people who refuse to show their papers and those who say their papers were misplaced or stolen?
The June 30, 2008, SOP says:
Your June 23, 2008, press release, however, says:
It seems to me that the information in the press release was a lie.
The June 30, 2008, SOP says:
Individuals who appear to be 18 years of age or older with a valid travel document, but without an ID, or in possession of an invalid ID, must be designated and screened as a selectee.
Beginning Saturday, June 21, 2008 passengers that willfully refuse to provide identification at security checkpoint will be denied access to the secure area of airports. This change will apply exclusively to individuals that simply refuse to provide any identification or assist transportation security officers in ascertaining their identity.
This new procedure will not affect passengers that may have misplaced, lost or otherwise do not have ID but are cooperative with officers.
This new procedure will not affect passengers that may have misplaced, lost or otherwise do not have ID but are cooperative with officers.
#19
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#20
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Originally Posted by Phil
Dean, does the current SOP say anything about what to do about people who decline to present credentials? Does it make any differentiation between people who refuse to show their papers and those who say their papers were misplaced or stolen?
If your ID was lost or stolen, you can go through the identification verification procedure (the whole filling out the form and the phone call and the questions deal) and then continue on into the checkpoint for screening.
If you refuse to show your identification BUT you are willing to undergo the identification verification procedure, then it's done and you can then continue on into the checkpoint for screening.
If you refuse to show your identification AND you are unwilling to undergo the identification verification procedure, then you're denied entry into the sterile area.
As I've said for a very, very, very long time. It's now not even just on a flowchart anymore; the text of the SOP itself is very, very explicit about this.
Originally Posted by Phil
It seems to me that the information in the press release was a lie.
Originally, as I've said before, if you refused to show ID you were denied entry into the sterile area outright. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. TSA backed off of that really quickly, though. Like, within days.
It then changed to what I wrote above at the top of this particular comment.
This change will apply exclusively to individuals that simply refuse to provide any identification or assist transportation security officers in ascertaining their identity.
If you refuse to show your identification BUT you are willing to undergo the identification verification procedure, then it's done and you can then continue on into the checkpoint for screening.
If you refuse to show your identification AND you are unwilling to undergo the identification verification procedure, then you're denied entry into the sterile area.
If you refuse to show your identification AND you are unwilling to undergo the identification verification procedure, then you're denied entry into the sterile area.
As for just making them a selectee, that was true - at the time that version of the SOP went live. Some week or two later, the ID verification procedure went live, and the "just make them a selectee and move on" part was abandoned.
Unless I misunderstood your context, and your specific meaning was about this:
This new procedure will not affect passengers that may have misplaced, lost or otherwise do not have ID but are cooperative with officers.
(which, as I pointed out earlier, isn't even wholly true anymore. It was, though, at the time)
...Clear as mud, now?
Originally Posted by RadioGirl
Is it a minor change or major change to decide whether an individual airport (DFW, for example) is "trained on the passport card"?
Last edited by HSVTSO Dean; May 28, 2009 at 10:58 pm
#23
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When people requested a copy of the new policy after it was announced, TSA waited eleven months, then provided the policy that was actually in affect on June 21 (which, again, was not what TSA said would be in effect) instead of any policy that later superseded it.
The 'procedure' that will not affect passengers that may have misplaced, lost, or otherwise do not have ID is, specifically, referring to denying entry to those who willfully refuse to provide ID. I.e.; TSA saying "If you lost or misplaced your ID, you can still get in. Only if you willfully refuse to show it will you be denied"
This use of the word may instead of do or does, and of the phrase may have instead of have or did allows your agency (and other weasels) to manipulate people who are not reading carefully into believing TSA has stated something it has not. It's infuriating.
Last edited by pmocek; May 29, 2009 at 8:17 am Reason: note that press reelase was re-dated June 23 -- after it was known that the procedure was not in effect
#24
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: HSV
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Originally Posted by Phil
Actually, with that first sentence, TSA isn't saying anything at all, because every passenger who ever had ID may have misplaced it, lost it, or otherwise whatever. Are you quoting, or just slipping into TSA PR-speak because of overexposure to it?
Let me reword it this way:
The 'procedure' that will not affect passengers that they, at the point of beginning the screening process by approaching the TDC position, claim to have misplaced, lost, or otherwise do not have ID is, specifically, referring to denying entry to those who willfully refuse to provide ID. It's TSA saying "If you lost or misplaced your ID, you can still get in. Only if you willfully refuse to show it will you be denied"
Last edited by HSVTSO Dean; May 29, 2009 at 7:29 pm
#25
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And, like, direly outdated information. About 80% of that document is currently invalid. It certainly seems that the TSA redacted the SSI out of it, then sent the version that was most-current at the point in time when the FOIA request was first made. Way, way out of date.
#26
Join Date: Aug 2008
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Originally Posted by halls120
I guess TSA hasn't heard about President Obama's directive regarding responding to FOIA requests
I do have some speculation, though I don't see why it would take eleven months. Without a doubt, it had to be bounced around between a lot of people. The document that is the SOP is, as a whole, labeled with SSI markings. Not everything in the SOP actually is SSI, though, as you can tell by looking at how actually very little has been blacked-out on the redacted version that the TSA sent to papersplease.org.
However, the SSI inside of the document isn't labeled, underlined, bolded, italicized, marked with little lines on the side of the page, or in any way, shape, or form distinguished from the rest of the text.
I'd be willing to bet that it got tossed around between at least twenty different people, all adding black marks or taking black marks away, until they reached a consensus on it. And if it got sent to Joe the SSI Under-Guru before being sent to Phillip the SSI Under-Guru, and Joe just happened to be on vacation, then it would sit in a little locked file on his desk until he got back into the office two or three weeks later to do it.
Like I said: just speculation.
Still, though. Eleven months? No idea at all.
#27
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#28
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TSA denied for non-specificity my FOIA request for ID policies
Date: Thu, 11 Jun 2009 09:11:31 -0400
From: FOIA <[email protected]>
Subject: RE: FOIA request: TSA policies re: passenger identification at U.S.airports
To: Phillip Mocek
Dear Mr. Mocek,
Your FOIA request does not clearly identify the records that you are seeking with sufficient specificity for us to reasonably identify where responsive records might be located. DHS regulations, 6 C.F.R. Section 5.3(b) require that you describe the records you are seeking with as much information as possible to ensure that our search can locate them with a reasonable amount of effort. Whenever possible, a request should include specific information about each record sought, such as the date, title or name, author, recipients, and subject matter of the records, if known, or the DHS component or office you believe created and/or controls the record.
The FOIA does not require an agency to create new records, answer questions posed by requesters, or attempt to interpret a request that does not identify specific records.
Please clarify your request containing a reasonable description of the records you are seeking. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Thank You,
TSA FOIA Office
From: FOIA <[email protected]>
Subject: RE: FOIA request: TSA policies re: passenger identification at U.S.airports
To: Phillip Mocek
Dear Mr. Mocek,
Your FOIA request does not clearly identify the records that you are seeking with sufficient specificity for us to reasonably identify where responsive records might be located. DHS regulations, 6 C.F.R. Section 5.3(b) require that you describe the records you are seeking with as much information as possible to ensure that our search can locate them with a reasonable amount of effort. Whenever possible, a request should include specific information about each record sought, such as the date, title or name, author, recipients, and subject matter of the records, if known, or the DHS component or office you believe created and/or controls the record.
The FOIA does not require an agency to create new records, answer questions posed by requesters, or attempt to interpret a request that does not identify specific records.
Please clarify your request containing a reasonable description of the records you are seeking. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Thank You,
TSA FOIA Office
My request was:
TSA FOIA Officer:
Pursuant to the federal Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552, I request access to and copies of any documents pertaining to Transportation Security Administration policies regarding discovery and verification of identities of passengers by TSA staff at airports in the United States.
I would like to receive the information in electronic format (PDF attachments to e-mail). If that is not feasible, paper copies via U.S. Mail would be acceptable.
I agree to pay reasonable duplication fees for the processing of this request in an amount not to exceed $30. Please notify me prior to your incurring any expenses in excess of that amount.
If my request is denied in whole or part, I ask that you justify all deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the act. I request that any deletions be "blacked out" rather than "whited out". I will also expect you to release all segregable portions of otherwise exempt material. I, of course, reserve the right to appeal your decision to withhold any information or to deny a waiver of fees.
I look forward to your reply within 20 business days, as the statute requires.
Thank you for your assistance.
Pursuant to the federal Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552, I request access to and copies of any documents pertaining to Transportation Security Administration policies regarding discovery and verification of identities of passengers by TSA staff at airports in the United States.
I would like to receive the information in electronic format (PDF attachments to e-mail). If that is not feasible, paper copies via U.S. Mail would be acceptable.
I agree to pay reasonable duplication fees for the processing of this request in an amount not to exceed $30. Please notify me prior to your incurring any expenses in excess of that amount.
If my request is denied in whole or part, I ask that you justify all deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the act. I request that any deletions be "blacked out" rather than "whited out". I will also expect you to release all segregable portions of otherwise exempt material. I, of course, reserve the right to appeal your decision to withhold any information or to deny a waiver of fees.
I look forward to your reply within 20 business days, as the statute requires.
Thank you for your assistance.
any documents relating to, the TSA’s new requirement for passengers to produce identification to TSA agents when passengers go through security checkpoints at airports in the United States. Failure to willfully comply with this new identification requirement purportedly results in United States citizens being prohibited from entering the secure area at airports and, therefore, making them unable to travel domestically by commercial air carrier.
#30
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Like I said earlier, I guess TSA hasn't heard about President Obama's directive regarding responding to FOIA requests.