Registered Traveler Program Is Fake Security

Wired News
Dec. 02, 2006

The Registered Traveler program, which was just cleared for deployment the nation's airports, has nothing to do with security and is simply a way to pay $100 to cut to the front of the line. While $28 out of the approximately $100 fee goes to a security check performed by the Department of Homeland Security, there's actually no rational reason to do the check other than to make the program look like it's security-related.

More, including why Registered Travelers will still get caught by terrorism watchlists and comment from a vendor, after the jump...

The program is set to work like this -- a traveler submits 10 fingerprints, a couple of optional iris scans, a digital photo, and personal information including their Social Security Number to the government through one of the private groups running a Registered Traveler program. After the government runs a $28 background check and clears the person, the private company (so far only Verified Identity Pass is certified) issues them a smart card.

Then after a traveler gets her boarding pass the normal way and heads toward the security checkpoint, she goes to a special line that has a kiosk. There she has her fingerprints scanned and checked against the card and if they match, she goes immediately to the front of the screening line. Then she goes through screening as normal -- with their liquids in a bag, laptop out of its case, shoes off, etc. So, what's the point of a background check if all you get is a better place in the same line you would have been without the card?

But can't those with the unfortunate name Robert Johnson or Ted Kennedy who keep getting snagged by watchlists join Registered Traveler to avoid having to prove they aren't the terrorist the government is looking for every time they fly?

Yes, they can join, but no, it won't make any difference. The two systems don't touch at all (detailed explanation). Some Registered Travelers will still not be able to print their boarding passes at home and will get the dread SSSS on their boarding pass (the code for extra screening).

Yes, in short, Registered Traveler is a program that lets people pay an annual fee of $100 to cut to the front of the line. As for the background check? It's purely theater to make the public think the program is something other than a way for the well-off to avoid the hassles of post 9/11 airline travel. The TSA promises that the program won't slow down regular travelers, but that's plainly absurd. If it speeds up those willing to pay $100, it's going to slow down those unwilling or unable to do so, since there are currently no plans to add special screening lanes for Registered Travelers.

Yup, we're all in this together, except that some of us are more all in this together than others.

UPDATE:

Cindy Rosenthal, the vice president of communication for Verified Identity Pass, contacted me to correct and contest some of my points (I had left a message for her yesterday).

VIP does make lines faster for everyone for several reasons (based on a trial in Orlando and new equipment):

The designated lanes include longer tables for separating a traveler's things into plastic containers and there is a conceierge to help with that process
The Registered Traveler kiosks, specially made by GE (now an investor in VIP), also scan shoes so that travellers don't have to take their shoes off when they go through the metal detector (unless they have a significant amount of metal, such as with steel-toed boots or spike heels)
The company is working on finding and paying for new scanning equipment that may let travellers keep their coats on when going through the magnetometer and/or not have to remove laptops from their bags

Rosenthal contends that the background check is useful because the government knows more about who is travelling through the airport, even though the security check has nothing to do with what happens at the screening line.

The other bigger premise to Registered Traveler is obviously knowing more in a security sense about who is going through the airport. And registering and having a background check is certainly providing that kind of security, a little more security, than it is to just have a driver's license or a student ID to get on a plane. You know more about who is going through and the government has given the approval to those people to be on that side of the line in that lane. I'm not going to debate it. It is just a fact.

Actually, nothing is actually done with the background check and without the faster lanes, the exact same set of people would be going through identical checks without the progam. The background check is a thus net-zero in security terms. One could just as well substitute a requirement that registered travelers submit signed statements that they are not terrorists or make them all wear Remember 9-11 t-shirts and the effect would be the same.

Rosenthal agrees that Registered Traveler will have no effect on the watchlist mismatching, but says her organization wants that to change. Unfortunately, that's highly unlikely given the massive technical requirements of not issuing a boarding pass and not performing a watchlist check until the moment that a registered traveler uses a kiosk.

While Rosenthal makes some good points about how their lines are faster, there's no reason those same techniques couldn't be used for all travelers and the program still amounts to a way to pay your way to the front of the line. That may be fine (some airports already have designated lanes for first- and business-class travelers) with some, but it strikes me that the burdens of the terrorism age should be shared by all. And there's no still no security benefit to Registered Traveler.
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Correction note: After talking with Cindy Rosenthal, I learned that the fingerprints, photos, iris scans and personal information are all submitted prior to the background check. The post was changed to reflect that flow. The previous version indicated that the fingerprints, iris scan and photos were submitted after the background check was completed. 27B regrets the error.