Is the TSA “trying to scare me into providing personal information”?

Secure Flight. Just the mention of those two words is enough to confuse, frustrate or frighten the average air traveler. As in, “The Transportation Security Administration’s new Secure Flight program will require you to … (insert name of ridiculous new policy here).”

The question now isn’t what is Secure Flight. It’s, “what isn’t it?

Frank Perch got the following email from AirTran the other day, for example.

Recently, the Transportation Security Administration announced changes to their watch list matching process called Secure Flight. The mission of Secure Flight is to enhance the security of domestic and international air travel through the use of improved watch list matching. Another benefit will be greatly reduced incidents of passengers being misidentified with names on the TSA’s watch lists.

What does this mean for me?
Starting today, when purchasing a ticket you will be required to provide your full first, middle and last name, exactly matching the valid government-issued ID you will present at the airport (e.g. driver’s license, passport, etc.).

Beginning August 15, 2009, you will also be required to provide your gender and date of birth when booking flights.

How will I benefit?
You will benefit from the Secure Flight program through improved security on all flights and reduced rates in misidentification of passengers who have similar names on the TSA watch list.

He thought it was a scam.

The email does not exactly say, but strongly implies, that if I goof up — if my name on the reservation does not exactly match the format on my ID — that my ticket will not be valid.

My first reaction to this email was actually that it must be a phishing email of some kind. Some crook is trying to scare me into providing personal information. Yet the email seemed to pass many of the usual phishing tests. I couldn’t find any spoofed hyperlinks for instance.

I was still suspicious though because none of the other airlines I deal with was contacting me about this alleged requirement, which the email says is effective TODAY, and also usually when there is something important like that one would expect a bit of advance notice.

As it turns out, the email is legit, and so is the requirement. But Perch’s note underscores the fact that there’s so much misinformation about the new TSA policy, it’s amazing that air travel hasn’t ground to a halt.

Among the misconceptions:

Secure flight went into effect June 1. Actually, it was effective May 15. The government’s new passport requirements, not to be confused with Secure Flight, went into effect yesterday. If you’re interested, my colleague Edward Hasbrouck has a disturbing take on that new rule.

It will require you to use your full, legal name immediately. In fact, TSA officials promise to gradually phase in Secure Flight. “Passengers shouldn’t be concerned if particular airlines don’t ask them to provide the additional information right away; it should not impact their travel,” the department says.

If your name doesn’t match, you’re grounded. Over the coming months, when booking airline travel, you may be asked to provide your name as it appears on your government ID that you plan to use when traveling, according to the TSA. But it’s also clear in reading the department’s documentation that you won’t be denied boarding if your name isn’t a precise match. (You’ll probably get an extra screening by a TSA officer.) So you can keep using your old name, but you might want to book under your legal name to avoid delays.

A word of advice for those of you who want to bring your airline tickets into compliance with Secure Flight: don’t bother. It’s your airline or online agency’s responsibility to collect Secure Flight-compliant names and, eventually, genders and birthdates (coming in August). So don’t try to change the name on your ticket, because your airline could charge a change fee and a fare differential (which they gladly will) and that will do you absolutely no good.

Let me quote from the TSA FAQ section:

Q: What if my name and I.D. do not exactly match when I arrive at security? Will I be turned away and unable to fly?

A: No. Secure Flight will not impact the process at the security checkpoint in any way.

So let’s all take a deep breath. No one is out to steal your identity. Your airline tickets are fine.

At least for now.

  • Jasper

    I am waiting for the day they want my shoe size in advance to accommodate me better and speed up my de-shoeing at the security gate.

    While on the one hand would like to think most people can spell their name properly, on the other hand I understand there are many many people whose name is somewhat ambiguous on the spelling front. Hyphens, foreign transcriptions all give trouble in this aspect.

    I do not understand how the spelling of a name impacts air safety whatsoever.

  • Charlie, Peoria IL

    The way the announcement is worded, it seems to assume that our government-issued IDs include our full names – first, middle and last. In fact my state driver’s license just has my middle initial, not my full middle name.

  • Joe Farrell

    I am so glad I fly myself places – TSA is going to cause pilots enough trouble but at least I am not required to post an announcement that I intend to fly – yet.

  • frostysnowman

    The name matching does not apply to tickets purchased before May 15, according to my company’s travel department and also someone I talked to at Delta airlines. I was concerned about this because my father recently purchased an airline ticket for me and used the wrong last name when making my reservation. I didn’t change my name when I got married 12 years ago but my father forgets that. Anyway, Delta said that as long as I have a copy of my marriage license and the proper photo ID when I take this particular flight, I won’t have a problem when I check in. But for tickets purchased after 5/15/09, the names have to match.

  • frostysnowman

    PS – That’s some scary information on Edward Hasbrouk’s web site!

  • Richard Clarke

    Why do Americans continue to put up with this stupid intrusive nonsense? Europeans have had sixty years of brain-dead socialism and most still see government as a benevolent Uncle, so they’ll tolerant almost anything. But when are Americans going to say, enough is enough?

  • Lianne

    I can’t wait too see what sort of trouble this causes with hyphenated names (like mine) or names that have apostrophes, or have the audacity to have anything in it “not normal.”

  • Niles

    Another silly rule from TSA. My driver’s license has my middle initial, my passport has my full middle name. If I fly domestically I must use the initial, internationally the full middle name…but what if it is a combined trip, say from Philly to LA and then to Tokyo, and return…initial or passport? Probably the easiest thing to do is change my name legally to a single word. I think Microsoft is the name I should choose. I’m retiring and will only work part of the time, and we all know that Microsoft only works part of the time.

  • Peter

    Ok, so when I purchase my ticket, my name ahs to match my billing information, which only includes my middle initial. But when I pass through security, my ticket now has to match my full name listed on my government ID. Catch 22.

  • Phil

    When I was in Chicago the other day, after I passed through security I asked a TSA official about the requirement about the name on the ticket being a perfect match with the ID that is presented. ie middle initial, middle name. His response was he knew nothing about this new rule, he said that the TSA screeners were the last to know about any changes, that usually the public knew before they did.

  • Dang

    I used to work for the registrar of an University. Very often, citizens of latino countries or the catholics have the fetism for a 50 and plus characters name
    which include all the saints or the far reaching noble title.
    I can’t wait to see how the TSA to deal with this problem.
    By the way, how long is the maximum number of characters in the name field of an airlines tickets ?

  • Joel Wechsler

    What is more of a problem than mentioned so far is the potential mismatch between the name on a frequent flyer account and the name on a driver’s license or passport. Everyone should be sure that their FF acounts are in the same name as that they will be using to fly or they risk not getting credit for their trip.
    Niles, the simple solution for you is to use your passport as ID for your whole trip..
    Peter, it should be fairly simple to change your billing information to match your ID.

  • Ames

    I do not have a middle name what do I use to fill in the blank???

  • Mary H

    My father has no middle name. Traditionally, N/A has been used in its place. But I can imagine that confounding the TSA/airport/airline/passport/travel agent.

    Maybe we can just jump ahead of the slow line to fascism and just advocate for a number tattoed on arm or forehead?????

  • Nobody

    On June 2nd, 2009 at 8:16 am Jasper said I am waiting for the day they want my shoe size in advance to accommodate me better and speed up my de-shoeing at the security gate.

    Something I’ve never seen at TSA prison checkpoints: Someone cleaning the floor with disinfectant. Sorry to say, I’ve been feeling poorly, and I asked the TSA to clean the floor after I staggered through the metal detector in sweaty, athlete’s feet. “Please collect your belongings, sir (Ahole) and move away from the area: This is not a donut shop,” is the look I got.
    Do THEY have to strip and go through security when THEY clock in or would that be just too embarassing to be on shoeless exhibit in front of their peers? One of these civil servants might be having a bad day a la cops with nightsticks after a car chase on helicopter videos.

    Here lies Fast Gun Jack
    RIP Nobody was faster

  • Bela Fleck

    @ Niles – TSA doesn’t require you to use your driver’s license on the domestic portions of your international flights. They just want government-issued ID. So you can use your passport from beginning to end. It will save a big headache.

  • S.E. Davenport

    This past Christmas I had much difficulty with my flight. I ordered the tickets in August from Continental using my member account. Unfortunately that account had my nickname. This nickname didn’t match my driver’s license. I didn’t notice the discrepancy , but the screener did. I had to wait at the check-in counter, then was put into a separate line ; finally I was cleared through. I called the airline trying to get a change before my return flight. I was told NO changes can be made to a ticket after one part had been used. I went to the airport early (thank goodness) because similar problems occurred. I ended up having to go through the full body screen. Once home, I wrote to Continental to request a name change and provided documentation. It took the airline 6 weeks to make the change . The only way I knew the change had been made was when I accessed my account. No notice was sent .

  • David Z

    I ordered the tickets in August from Continental using my member account.

    For those among you with registered accounts with your preferred travel vendors, better login and update your account names to match those on the government-issued ID/s you plan to bring with you.

    This indeed seems absurd. But…it depends what and how many people want for this sort of thing, and you’ve got various people with various wants that usually oppose one another.

  • Carl Wolf

    “‘Everyone shall be free to leave any country, including his own,’ and ‘No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his own country.’”

    So, according to Eddie, travels visas are illegal. Another one of your other articles mentions that getting the required travel documents are the passenger’s responsibility…and that includes passport, passport card, and visas.

  • David Triggle

    “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Lord Acton

    The next step will be having to submit travel plans in advance to TSA to get their approval. That will put us in the same league as a number of other well known “democracies”.

  • James

    It seems to me that no one has mentioned the security of the ever-increasing personal information we are expected to surrender to airlines. How secure are the sites? Let’s say we accept American Airlines as having a secure site – are AeroMexico and Great Lakes Aviation sites as secure? This seems like another asbestos situation to me. The government REQUIRED companies to use asbestos and then refused to protect them when they were sued. My guess is that someone will sue an airline when their data is compromised and the government will again wash their hands of any responsibility.

  • DN

    What makes it even more interesting is that some travel agencies put “MR” or “MRS” in the middle of the passenger’s name (I think it’s AmEx, but I shred my boarding passes once I get credit on the airline website). So, my name could be LASTNAME FIRSTNAME MR MIDDLE INITIAL. I guarantee that won’t be on my government ID!

    Also, a co-worker noticed that, if he didn’t book his ticket with his middle initial on the boarding pass, TSA put him through extra security – because his name is similar to an Irish terrorist. When he had his middle initial on the boarding pass name, he goes right through. *shrug*

  • http://www.tedsimages.com Ted

    Are the agencies who maintain the watchlists also going to update the million or so names to include middle names, gender, and birth date? If not, how is “Secure Flight” going to do anything to improve the accuracy of the matching? And I won’t even ask how the matching does anything to improve the security of aviation.

    As with everything else about the TSA, this “enhancement” is guaranteed to make air travel more difficult for many people. Passengers will be hassled (or worse) for mismatched tickets and identity documents, and also because of “false positive” matches with the watchlists. And we’ll never understand how or why the extra hassle does anything to improve security.

  • Oana-Maria

    I’m one of those europeans brainwashed after 60 years of communism, as someone nicely put in a comment. Which is why I have been refusing, for the past few years, to travel and spend loads of greenies in your oh so free country, because albeit brainwashed, I’m not a criminal and until I am, no one, and even less so a government, will have my fingerprints (a must for us second-hand citizens of the world if we wish to jump over the pond). Now, I am aware that most of us are not happy with the names that our parents in their endless wisdom (or sometimes inebriation when declaring offspring) bestowed on us. I also am aware that when marriage comes into play, it can all get more complicated (marriage does that to everything).
    However, THAT IS OUR BLOODY name. James, not Jim, Jimbo, or Jamie (although a cruel joke might have named you Jimbo on government issued paper). How difficult is it to have your official papers in one and the same and the only darn name you were given? And how on earth can you possibly forget you’re called Nicholas, even if everyone calls you Nick? I agree that it’s none of their damn business what my age is when I travel, unless they ask so I can get some sort of discount or gratuity like lap babies or senior citizens. But a name is part of your identity, and unless you have it changed officially to be whatever you wish it to be, you’re stuck with it so just use it properly and stop moaning or expecting people to “understand” when you don’t.
    I have the opposite issue when I travel to Canada-Air Canada refuses to put my full name on my ticket (I’m Oana-Maria, officially and unofficially, and I’m not an exotic dancer to get a stage name or a nickname, whatever you wish to call it). the agent “explained” that they can not use hyphens and spaces on tickets (the system doesn not “accept” them as if the system made the people and not the other way around). So I had to give in and buy the tickets that stupid woman issued, on which I was charmingly called Oanamar. Well guess what, I had the bright idea to print my e-mail exchange with her, and that was the only way the check-in agent in London allowed me to check in on my flight: Miss, the name on your passport doesn’t match the one on your reservation. Well tell that to your bloody system, will you?????????

  • David Z

    My guess is that someone will sue an airline when their data is compromised and the government will again wash their hands of any responsibility.

    I don’t have a ready link, but JetBlue was sued for violating their privacy policy when they turned over passenger name records (PNRs) to the government. But…the plaintiffs didn’t demonstrate material damages (I think) that time.

    The airlines will be hardpressed for sure to guarantee that. Won’t. Happen.

  • deb

    For years airline ticket names and name’s on ID were to match!. Where have you all been? I do find it hard to now ask for DOB and sex of traveler. Oh but the airlines and TSA will let a minor’s check infor flights without any type of legal docummation.

  • Ames

    Oana-Maria, you have my total understanding and sympathy! I have a comparatively simple name, Ann-Marie, but also fall victim to the hyphen problem, it seems the computer logic tries to subtract one word from the other and cannot. So with no hyphen, it becomes Annmarie or Ann M. and I am the bxxtch for wanting my own name to be correct. On top of it, I was not given a middle name. This is not limited to airlines though, credit cards, car registry and so on try to have their way.

    The next peeve, which I assume you also have is how to pronounce your name. What is wrong with a properly ennunciated Ann pause Marie? I get Ammeree more often than I can count and it is like fingernails on a chalk board.

    Just to make things more interesting, my son has TWO middle names, because we could not decide and just strung them along. That seems to be easier to fill the spaces, but is challenging for a monogrammed shirt.

  • Ames

    BTW, little mister two middle names has been helped by putting all of his names on airline tickets. When he was eight, we discovered that his name was a match for a watch list person and he could not get a boarding pass in advance. We went through the TSA process to identify him by submitting his identification to Washington with no relief and only because he has a passport was he able to get on flights several times. Now that I put his entire name on the ticket his passes go right through.

  • Duke Nukem

    Give TSA personal information? Sheesh! You give more info on your Facebook page!

  • LB

    Actually there are scams out there using this info to get people to click on a link after which a malware is downloaded on your PC and then a hacker can steal your info. Got a fake email today asking me to click on a link to update Delta info. When I went to the Delta site nothing like that existed. Went back and checked the links in the email and they were all fake.

    Bottom line: NEVER CLICK ON A LINK WITHIN AN EMAIL.
    Instead always go to the actual site and check.