How is the American 'No Fly List' Made?
Blogged by Nahk.
We must have all heard about the 'No-Fly' list in America that bars certain individual from flying in the country.
The no-fly list has been one of the American government's most public counterterrorism tools since the 9/11 attacks. Adding more people to the list could make Americans safer when they fly. But it could also mean more cases of mistaken identity.
Current and former intelligence, counterterrorism and U.S. government officials recently provided 'The Associated Press' a sneak-preview at how the no-fly list is created. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security issues.
Despite improvements over time, the list remains an imperfect tool, dependent on the work of hundreds of government terrorism analysts who sift through enormous flow of information. The list expanded after 9/11 and has fluctuated in size over the past decade. The standards for getting on the list have been refined over the years, and technology has improved to make the matching process more reliable.
There are four major steps to ban a person from flying:
- It begins with law enforcement and intelligence officials collecting the smallest scraps of intelligence — a tip from a CIA informant or a wiretapped conversation.
-The information is then sent to the National Counterterrorism Center, a Northern Virginia nerve center set up after 9/11. There, analysts put names — even partial names — into a huge classified database of known and suspected terrorists. Analysts scour the database trying to make connections and update files as new intelligence flows in.
-About 350 names a day are sent to the Terrorist Screening Center for more analysis and consideration to be put on the government-wide terror watch list. This is a list of approximately 418,000 people, maintained by the FBI.
-Once armed with the information for those three levels, about a half-dozen experts from the Transportation Security Administration who work at the screening center have two options.
For now the system is far from foolproof but like they say in the movies : "Trust your leaders and Be Safe"!
Current and former intelligence, counterterrorism and U.S. government officials recently provided 'The Associated Press' a sneak-preview at how the no-fly list is created. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security issues.
Despite improvements over time, the list remains an imperfect tool, dependent on the work of hundreds of government terrorism analysts who sift through enormous flow of information. The list expanded after 9/11 and has fluctuated in size over the past decade. The standards for getting on the list have been refined over the years, and technology has improved to make the matching process more reliable.
There are four major steps to ban a person from flying:
- It begins with law enforcement and intelligence officials collecting the smallest scraps of intelligence — a tip from a CIA informant or a wiretapped conversation.
-The information is then sent to the National Counterterrorism Center, a Northern Virginia nerve center set up after 9/11. There, analysts put names — even partial names — into a huge classified database of known and suspected terrorists. Analysts scour the database trying to make connections and update files as new intelligence flows in.
-About 350 names a day are sent to the Terrorist Screening Center for more analysis and consideration to be put on the government-wide terror watch list. This is a list of approximately 418,000 people, maintained by the FBI.
-Once armed with the information for those three levels, about a half-dozen experts from the Transportation Security Administration who work at the screening center have two options.
a) They can add a suspect to the "selectee list," a roster of about 18,000 people who can still fly but must go through extra screening at the airport.
b) Or, if analysts determine a person is too dangerous to board a plane, they can put the suspect on the no-fly list.
The names on each list are constantly under review and updated as the threat changes. As the government takes on more responsibility for checking names against the lists, we hope the number of mistaken identity cases will dramatically decrease.
The names on each list are constantly under review and updated as the threat changes. As the government takes on more responsibility for checking names against the lists, we hope the number of mistaken identity cases will dramatically decrease.
For now the system is far from foolproof but like they say in the movies : "Trust your leaders and Be Safe"!
