TSA allows Houston traveller in with no ID, boarding pass after a smoke break

S Kaye Alston reports that a fellow traveler left the terminal for a smoke break, but without an ID or boarding pass. The TSA seems to have let her back in without much trouble:

It was time to jet to the outside elements to burn one. Well, one of the "other" traveling butt head walked right out the door with nothing but her cigarettes!!! No ID, no boarding pass - NOTHING. Try this stunt in a busy airport, and see what happens. The southern charm was whipped out and throunced on "Larry the TSA agent", and the security dance began for her to make it back into the terminal. I have NEVER in my Life been able to gain access to such a secured environment without any form of ID. Thanks Judy for the laugh and adventure to see if we could pull this one off. We did.

TSA advises passenger by phone they need minimal or no ID

Two reports lately indicate that TSA is telling travelers who inquire by phone that they can get by with minimal ID. This is a bit strange, because in my experience, the TSA either wants to see proper ID or no ID at all, and misleading because, of course, you don't need any ID at all. However, it is better than the old days, when TSA seemed even more confused about ID.

Adeline reports that Delta wouldn't give her a boarding pass without an ID, even though she had alternative ID. However, TSA was pretty clear with her over the phone that, as far as they are concerned, they just need a boarding pass. As Adeline found out from the TSA, she doesn't actually need any ID. Delta has strict rules about ID for the sake of thir own revenue control--they don't want you buying someone else's ticket. Of course, this it their right. However, a traveler can check in online and print their boarding pass, or print it at a kiosk. This may mean no checking any bags (depends on the airline). However, once you get that boarding pass, you are free to travel. Even the strictest airlines, like Delta, will usually give you a boarding pass if you can provide them of enough evidence of who you are, so I am surprised they are being so hard line about it. Adeline writes:

So all I had was my BYU ID, and [Delta] didn't accept that because BYU is a private institution so the ID is not issued by the state. The dumb part is that the agent would have issued me a boarding pass if I had a library card. A library card? It has no photo, it is easily stolen, and is easy to get. That really didn't make sense to me. And yes, I did cry at the airport. She still didn't give me that little piece of paper. She did however transfer my flight to tomorrow night, free of charge.
So I went home and stripped my room to look for my license while sitting on hold with Delta Airlines and then TSA for an hour to see what forms of ID I could use to get on the plane tomorrow. Let me preface this by saying that I understand that it is a federal law that they can't give me a boarding pass without proper ID. The problem is that no one knows what proper ID is. This is how the 3 separate phone calls went:
1) The first lady said that I could use my library card and she said that her supervisor told her that he was 80% sure that my International Student Identity Card would pass through an agent, but that I should call TSA to make sure.
2) TSA didn't help me because they said you can pass through security with practically no ID as long as you have a boarding pass. They just do a secondary screening.
3) The third lady (back at Delta) said that I couldn't use my International card and that I couldn't use a library card and that the agent that said I could was just being nice.
So if the agent wasn't "supposed" to let me in with a library card, then why couldn't she just let me in with a BYU photo ID (which is harder to fabricate and cannot be used in someone else's name)?

Epenshade reports that relatives "were in a panic about how she would get home since she had no ID" when a purse was presumed stolen:

As Ty put Elise to bed, I pulled up the TSA phone number and called them to see how she could get home. They were very kind, and told me with a police report she could fly, but she would be subject to additional screening. When I called her back to tell her this, she seemed a little calmer.

Why is TSA saying they require a police report to fly without ID?

KCTV Channel 5 Cites Right To Fly Without ID, Is Subjected to Investigation, Questions Secret Laws

from KCTV (Kansas City Channel 5 News)
The Transportation Security Administration investigated KCTV5 News for exposing what some experts called a serious flaw in airline security.Last year, KCTV5 News was able to board flights to Washington and Chicago using IDs the station created.Document checkers at Kansas City International Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport glossed over the homemade ID.One airline screener couldn't tell if the ID was real or not, but he let an undercover producer through anyway, and the producer headed off to Washington.

Since then, the TSA took over document checking at KCI.So earlier this year, KCTV5 News decided to try to fly again with the homemade ID.That time, a TSA screener questioned the undercover producer and said he had to have a government-issued ID to fly.Technically, that's not true.

On the TSA's Web site, the policy "recommends" that ID be carried, but there's never been a public law requiring it, and after a secondary screening, the undercover producer was able to catch a flight to Chicago and back.A month later, the president and CEO of KCTV5's parent company received a letter from the TSA informing the company that KCTV5 was being investigated for using "homemade photo identification" in an attempt to "circumvent required additional security measures and procedures."It's an accusation attorney Jim Harrison finds especially interesting given there is no rule requiring any ID whatsoever to board a plane."TSA is not necessarily looking for weapons or explosives. They're using our transportation network as a dragnet for law enforcement," Harrison.Harrison argued a lawsuit against the government that would have forced it to reveal the source of the so-called ID requirement, but that lawsuit was dismissed -- in part, Harrison said, because the regulation requiring ID is shrouded in secrecy."They designated it SSI, or sensitive security information, and said the release of which would be detrimental to the safety of transportation," Harrison said.

According to court documents, the details of the SSI shall only be disclosed on a "need to know" basis.In effect, TSA is saying people are required to abide by laws but people aren't allowed to know what those laws are."One of the problems is that TSA's own security personnel don't understand what the law is because the law seems to be so secret that TSA will keep it from their employees," Harrison said.

In fact, many people don't realize the origin of the so-call ID requirement didn't follow a terrorist attack.In 1996, 230 passengers were killed when TWA Flight 800 exploded midair.On July 18, 1996, then-President Bill Clinton said, "While we seek the cause of the disaster, let us all agree that we must not wait to alleviate the concerns of the American people about air safety and air security."To address those concerns, according to former counter-terrorism adviser Richard Clarke, new airline security measures were introduced by the Clinton administration, and the so-called requirement to present "government-issued photo ID" became a staple at U.S. airports.

More than 10 years later, the TSA says security personnel are required to request ID but government ID is not required to fly."The best form of Homeland Security is liberty and for the people to exercise that liberty, and when you start curtailing that liberty in the hopes of providing more security, then you're just asking for trouble," Harrison said.Late Wednesday afternoon, the TSA sent KCTV5 News a statement calling the station's investigation "irresponsible" and a "disservice to passengers." Nevertheless, KCTV5 News was told that the TSA completed its investigation and decided not to take action against KCTV5 for the story.The TSA said new regulations are expected to go into effect later this year.

Although airport security tells passengers they must show ID to board planes, they really don’t

By Scott Canon and Mike Rice McClatchy Newspapers
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 04.20.2008

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Flying across the country? Leave your pocketknife in the car. Don't carry more than a few ounces of liquids onto the plane. And don't forget that ID.

Wait? ID? Turns out we don't need no stinking ID.

Sure enough, leaving it behind will buy you hassle. It will probably annoy those in line behind you as the bottleneck of security slows from crawl to standstill. And it means you're in for a thorough frisking and a greater likelihood that the possessions you've dragged along on your journey will be tested for traces of explosives.

But the Transportation Security Administration concedes you should still be able to board that plane.

Consider the travels of Phillip Mocek, a Seattle software developer. A few years ago he read about a court case challenging various U.S. travel rules and decided he didn't like the idea of having to prove his identity to board a jet.

"I object to what I see as the federal government making a requirement for me to travel around my own country," Mocek said. "So I started testing the system."

Two or three years ago — he can't recall exactly when he started — Mocek headed out on trips with his driver's license planted firmly out of view. ("I still carried it with me. My need to get places, if necessary, would have overridden my desire to flex my rights.")

And time and again, he got where he wanted to go. He'd arrive at an airport with his boarding pass already printed and head to the security check.

"I would say, 'I don't have any ID to show you.' I very clearly did not want to lie, but I did not want to anger somebody by saying, 'I don't want to show you my ID,"' Mocek said, conceding he was parsing words.

Each time he would be subject to extra clearance — "I understand that's the way it is now" — but he always got cleared to fly.

After a visit last month to see family, he went to Kansas City International Airport to catch his flight back to Seattle.

To his thinking, the questions from the private security detail at the facilities' far-flung gates seemed more intrusive than he'd experienced elsewhere. He thought that being sent back to the airline counter for another boarding pass was unnecessary. But in the end, with the usual extra frisking, he flew without pulling out his ID.

Still, he was particularly annoyed at signs at the airport declaring that a government ID was required to fly. So when he returned home, he logged on to the TSA Web site and posted a complaint.

Eventually, a TSA official wrote back.

"TSA requires travelers to produce a valid form of government-issued ID to verify that the name on the travel document matches the ID," the response said.

But then it went on in seeming contradiction: "If a traveler is unwilling or unable to produce a valid form of ID, the traveler is required to undergo additional screening at the checkpoint to gain access to the secured area of the airport."

So an ID is required, except that it's not.

"If you have an ID," TSA spokeswoman Andrea McCauley said in an interview, "we highly encourage that you use that ID, because it speeds up the process not only for you but for anybody behind you in line."

But allowances are made for the ID-free, she said, "because we have to put something in place for people who are on a trip and lose their ID."

That said, the agency's specific policy remains officially secret.

Even without an ID, McCauley said, such passengers should not pose an extra security threat. Their names are still cross-checked against the federal no-fly list of potential terrorists. Their baggage, like every other passenger's, is electronically screened, and the travelers are searched more thoroughly than most people with ID.

Unsuccesful at MDW, TSA suggests I lie instead to fly without ID

Airport: Chicago Midway (MDW)
Date: February 28, 2008
Reason given: want to fly as a selectee, without ID
Reference: personal
Airline: Southwest
Result: Unsuccessful
Description: I told the TSA ID checker that I was flying without ID as a selectee. She told me I couldn't designate myself as a selectee, and handed me over to another agent who asked me if I had ID, and I told him politely I was flying without ID as a selectee. He said I couldn't fly without ID, that it was a security measure, and that they were protecting me . I mumbled something about the supreme court saying it was okay. He left and went and got a third agent, who told me that there was no I way I was getting on a plane or past that point without showing my ID. I quickly said, "yes sir, I'm sorry sir", showed him my ID, which he looked at, and then he sent me on my way.
After the metal detector, I went up to the TSA desk and asked to file a complaint. The TSA agent there got someone who seemed to be the manager, who gave me the form and asked what the problem was. I told him that I had tried to fly without ID, but had been denied. He agreed that I should have been able to fly without ID, but told me that if I had used different "verbage" I wouldn't have had a problem. After I questioned him on this further, I realized that he was implying that I should have told the agent that I lost my ID. and I told him that I certainly wasn't going to lie. He agreed that it seemed like a training issue, and I suggested he give his agents more careful training.

Kids take greyhound instead of plane beacuse they don't have ID

Courtney was sending his kids on an airplane trip, but they had no ID, and the TSA mis-informed him that they couldn't fly without it. So, instead, he put them on the greyhound, which he considered much more dangerous for their safety. Courtney should know that if they are under 18, his children don't even require ID. Either way, they could be subjected to an extra search and fly without ID.

I have found several cases where people didn't fly (or told others they couldn't fly) because they don't have ID. These people have lost their right to free movement because they are being mis-informed (or are misinterpreting) rules issued by the government and airlines. There is no excuse for this blatant disregard for transparency by the DHS and TSA -- they need to be very clear what the rights of ordinary travelers are.

Fly without ID to avoid compromising your immigration status

The TSA has been checking visas within passports as part of their ID check for domestic flights. If the see that the visa is no longer valid, they call immigration, at which point people have been detained and arrested. The TSA has confirmed this policy. They have also flagged people for flying with counterfeit or suspicious IDs, who have later been arrested.

Remember, you have the right to fly without showing your ID. If you are unsure that your travel papers are in order, it is better not to show them at all. You will be subject to an additional search, so carry nothing incriminating with you (always a good policy when traveling), but you also will have done nothing wrong.

Full detail about flying without ID are available at this blog, How to Fly without ID

Unsuccesful at flying without ID at Newark Airport, November, 2007

Airport: Newark (EWR)
ID Offered: None
Date: November, 2007
Reference: sbm12
Reason given: Want to fly without ID
Result: Unsuccessful
Description: So yesterday I had another failed attempt to clear security without showing ID, this time at EWR. A supervisor was called, who then called the PAPD "to observe" and a "manager" who wouldn't give me his actual title and then when I asked for a spelling of his last name said "spell it any way you want" came over to instruct the PAPD guy to make sure that I was removed from the premises if I caused any more trouble. He asked if I was testing them, accused me of recording the conversation (I had my laptop open with an external EvDO card that he thought was a camera) and he suggested that I call the local news station and that they'd still refuse me access.

I got names and badge numbers and the like, and the most thorough secondary screening of my life - at least 6 different agents involved, followed by a significant debrief for the whole group of agents on duty - probably 8-10 folks standing at the back end of security when I finally did clear.

So what do you say to the ID check agent? I'd prefer not to lie, so I don't want to tell a sob story about havin my license stolen or something like that.

Also, who should I write to about this, other than my congress-critters? Anyone have the name/address of someone at EWR that would actually make sure that the TSA staff there gets appropriate training?

You only need to provide your first initial and last name to fly

Right in with the recent news that the TSA wants to collect full names, birthdays and genders as part of secure flight is the indication that currently you only need to provide your first initial and last name.
Does this mean that the airline only passes on your first initial and last name to the TSA, or do they pass along your full name if you give it to them?
Either way, I assume this means that you are free to provide the airline with only your first initial and last name.
I have always given my full name to the airline, but that meant that when the TSA recorded my boarding pass information as I chose to fly without ID, they got to record my full name because it was on my boarding pass. Although I have an uncommon last name, I would really prefer to only give my first initial and last name, and leave off the chance of the TSA keeping records that identify me more fully. Not for any good reason, just that it freaks me out that the federal government is keeping records of my movements.
Even if the rule does go into effect, providing this additional information would be optional.

How to comment on Secure Flight

Secure flight is the plan whereby the TSA would approve each individual traveller for airplane travel, rather than the current system where the airlines check travellers against a watch list and no-fly list.

Written comments for secure flight must be received by November 21, 2007. Please leave a comment even if you don't think it will help. By my count there are only 291 comments as of today. There should be thousands...
Here's how to leave a comment.
1. Go to http://www.regulations.gov/
2. Scroll down to "Optional Step 4" in the search box. Select category "Docket ID" from the dropdown menu. Paste "TSA-2007-28572" into the adjacent text box. Leave everything else as is. Press submit.
3. To leave a comment, click on the callout image:. It is on the right hand side under "Comments
Add/Due By". To view other people's comments, click on the link under "Docket ID".

Here's the TSA's information about secure flight.
What is so bad about secure flight?
1. It violates your privacy. The government would be collecting and storing large quantities of information about you.
2. It violates your explicit rights to freedom of assembly because it requires prior permission for you to travel. It also interferes with your implicit right to movement.
3. It places an undue economic burden on airlines and would increase passenger delays.

A good overview of problems with secure flight is available here and here.

Portland, Expired ID, Successful, November 2007

Airline: ?
Airport: Portland
ID Offered: Expired driver's license
Date: November, 2007
Reference: Rachel
Reason given: Expired
Result: Successful
Description:The TSA gave me shit because my drivers license had expired. I forgot about this and if I'd remembered could have brought my passport. And I have a current license, but lost my wallet and then used my old expired license figuring I will go back to the DMV soon, and then haven't had time, and then forgot I had to do it. Soooo... it was super dumb, because an expired drivers license is still perfectly valid ID. The only reason it expires is to make you go back to the DMV to check your vision and if you are still competent to drive, or something. It's not like the ID-ness of it expires! There is your photo! Still very you-like! But the TSA is too dumb to realize that. And so put me down as having NO ID. Which also is no big deal and just means you go in a different line, which as a crippled person I do anyway, and they frisk you extra (which they do anyway since I'm crippled, naturally) and search my bag by hand.

TSA rifles through wallet, confiscates ID

I have always wondered when flying as a selectee (declining to show ID) if the TSA might rifle through my wallet and find my ID for themselves. We know that we consent to a search of our belongings when we enter the security line, and that there is no option for refusal. While we have learned that the TSA may record things like the books we read, I have always assumed that the search itself must be reasonable. However, Dmitry Samarov reports that the TSA rifled through his wallet, examined his ID, found one that was fake (although very old), called the local law enforcement, and confiscated it. I have previously pointed out another case where TSA agents rifled through a wallet and asked a lot of questions. Our right to fly without presenting papers thus may be limited by the TSA rifling through our things to verify our identity. What are our rights when travelling?

How to board a plane without ID -- be a pageant queen

New York airports are now making security exceptions for graceful girls with big smiles. A tipster who saw the first episode (airing tonight) of MTV’s new reality show, “Pageant Place,” told us that when Miss Universe Riyo Mori forgot her ID while trying to board a flight from JFK to Bloomington, Ind., she convinced a TSA agent to let her through - by flashing her sash. “First she showed her head shot, but it didn’t work . . . so then she just pulls out her sash and the agent sent her through to security,” gasped the snitch. more...

Does your face need to match your ID?

Angry veteran reports that the TSA doesn't care about matching your face with your ID:
Finally after all of this I went to the supervisor and attempted to ask him why no one looked at my face when they checked my ID. He told me they are looking for fake ID's more than anything else. I then asked him why it would matter if it was "fake" or not, if you don't look at the face on the ID. So as long as you have a real ID regardless if it is yours, you are all set to fly, as far as the TSA is concerned. To this he responded "I will talk to the ID checker". This useless ass though that there wasn't a problem with their security. more...

No ID necessary says TSA, IDs to be checked with blacklight

According to TSA spokeswoman Andrea McCauley:

Do you need a photo ID to fly?
No, but you'll undergo "secondary screening," the more involved screening that some passengers find time-consuming and/or invasive. If many passengers arrive without IDs, that would add to wait times, officials said.

Also, the Transportation Security Administration, which has taken over document-ticket screening at U.S. airports, is rolling out small black lights and loupes (magnifying lenses) to 1,300 specially trained screeners who check suspicious IDs in the ticket lines.

Secure Flight update

YOU MAY LOSE THE RIGHT TO TRAVEL ON AIRPLANES WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY. Additional information about Secure Flight.

US demands air passengers ask its permission to fly | The Register: Under new rules proposed by the Transport Security Administration (TSA) , all airline passengers would need advance permission before flying into, through, or over the United States regardless of citizenship or the airline's national origin.
...
The new rules mean this information must be submitted 72 hours before departure. Only those given clearance will get a boarding pass. The TSA estimates that 90 to 93 per cent of all travel reservations are final by then.

The proposed rules require the following information for each passenger: full name, sex, date of birth, and redress number (assigned to passengers who use the Travel Redress Inquiry Program because they have been mistakenly placed on the no-fly list), and known traveller number (once there is a programme in place for registering known travellers whose backgrounds have been checked). Non-travellers entering secure areas, such as parents escorting children, will also need clearance.

The TSA held a public hearing in Washington DC on 20 September, which heard comments from both privacy advocates and airline industry representatives from Qantas, the Regional Airline Association, IATA, and the American Society of Travel Agents. The privacy advocates came from the American Civil Liberties Union and the Identity Project. All were negative.

The proposals should be withdrawn entirely, argued Edward Hasbrouck, author of The Practical Nomad and the leading expert on travel data privacy. "Obscured by the euphemistic language of 'screening' is the fact that travellers would be required to get permission before they can travel."

Hasbrouck submitted that requiring clearance in order to travel violates the US First Amendment right of assembly, the central claim in John Gilmore's case against the US government over the requirement to show photo ID for domestic travel.

In addition, the TSA is required to study the impact of the proposals on small economic entities (such as sole traders). Finally, the TSA provides no way for individuals to tell whether their government-issued ID is actually required by law, opening the way for rampant identity theft. ...

Airline ID rejected at Reagan National

As with anything posted here, this could have been due to the whims of an individual TSA agent at Reagan National:

TSA agent checking boarding passes would not accept her airline ID as identification. Her FAA-approved, state-issued ID that allows her to walk through security gates at her own airport without even taking her shoes off. It had to be a driver’s license, she was told, and only a driver’s license. source

TSA takes on primary ID checks at airports

Here are more details about my observation that TSA is now doing the primary ID checks at airports:
September 26 was the first day that TSA took over the ID checking.
News reports suggested that the process can now take almost an hour since Transportation Security Administration agents took over the job of checking travel documents on Wednesday. Prior to the change, airlines checked passengers' identification. The TSA says it will do a more thorough job, causing longer delays at checkpoints. Passengers must still show their identification and tickets to security personnel, but the personnel are now government workers.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, this means that TSA is probably now enforcing the policies of the airlines (unless they are letting people fly without ID who haven't been approved by the airline). I worry that this may be unconstitutional.
Source 1. Source 2.

TSA now recording names of people who fly without ID

At Midway airport this past weekend, when I chose to fly without ID, the TSA agent took my boarding pass and wrote down the majority of information from the boarding pass (Name, flight into, destination, confirmation number) onto a form. I asked her what the form was, and if I could have a copy, and she basically indicated to me that it was not my business. (Note that no forms were filled out on my return trip through Philly.)

This brings up a number of rather important questions:
1. Is there a statute or rule that allows the TSA to routinely record traveler information, with or without an ID?
2. How long does the TSA store this information for, and what is it used for? Do travelers have a right to check the accuracy of the information, or to have it expunged?
3. Is this really a secret form that citizens are not allowed to have a copy of? If a traveler requests that information not be recorded will that traveler be denied passage?

TSA now checking IDs at airports - government enforcing corporate policy

For all previous airline travel since ID checking began, IDs were checked by representatives of the airline or airport. It was these ID checkers responsibility to check for a valid government issued ID, unless the traveler had been approved by the airline for an additional security screening, in which case they either ensured that the boarding pass was appropriately marked for TSA or directed the traveler to TSA's attention. Since no ID is required by the TSA, it was these representatives who both enforced the airline's ID requirement (usually assumed to be a source of revenue control) and did the screening for ID for TSA.

Now that TSA has taken control of this process, it would appear that TSA is enforcing the airline's revenue control measures. Since TSA doesn't require an ID to fly, if a traveler cannot get the airline to let them fly without ID (e.g. Continental will not mark "SSSS"), will TSA enforce this corporate rule? At this point, it would then be easy for the TSA to suggest to each airline that they require ID, at which point they could deny the right to fly without ID despite their own rule. Is the TSA enforcing corporate policies? Corporate policies limiting free travel that are enforced by federal officers seems one step away from facism.