Why You Are Always “randomly Selected” for Additional Security Screening at the Airport
No matter how prepared you are, airport delays are inevitable. If your bag is too heavy, expect to spend a few minutes simply unpacking, distributing, and repacking to comfort the airline agent. If there is a check-in-only queue, it can take an extra 30 minutes with a family of 12 in front of you and a few strollers in tow. And, of course, the security line.
In a recent conversation on Reddit, u / pooldoost described his frustration with so-called “random pick” for additional security checks. “Every time I travel within the country or abroad, I am ‘chosen at random’ about 70-80% of the time,” they write. “… I would love to hear what TSA / airport security agents think and any advice on how to stop getting picked [because] it literally turned into a joke.”
So what is this “enhanced security” process? Who is chosen and why? And how can you stop being the chosen one if you are constantly targeted?
How advanced screening works
As we wrote earlier, here’s how you know if you have been selected for an additional check: At first, you may have problems printing your boarding pass or checking in at home. When you arrive at the airport and check in with the flight attendant, you will be asked a few additional questions about your travel plans and then you will receive your boarding pass with the abbreviation “SSSS” or Secondary Security Screening Selection / Selectee.
From here, you will go to security and will likely be taken to another line for additional checks when you show your boarding pass to the TSA; While this process varies from airport to airport, it can include checking your metal detector and body scanner (possibly more than once), examining your entire body, and checking your carry-on bag for explosive residues. (In some cases, depending on the wait at your security line, this may be faster than waiting in that line.)
While the TSA claims the process is “random,” it has not been without significant criticism. In 2012, 32 written complaints from federal officers working at Boston’s Logan Airport reported racial profiling of agents during an additional screening process. “They just put off anyone who doesn’t like the way they look — blacks, in expensive clothes or jewelry, or Hispanics,” one officer told the New York Times .
In 2017, the ACLU also reviewed 13,000 TSA documents, which, among other important findings, showed that some officers sent passengers for additional checks much more often than others, “a red flag that TSA” indicators “are subjective and arbitrary.” says the ACLU message . the site reads .
Why you might be chosen
What, then, can affect whether you are selected for an extended search? Well, we’ll start by stating the obvious: TSA does not communicate its selection process. According to the Department of Homeland Security’s website , the details of its algorithm cannot be released for “security reasons.” (What we do know is that TSA uses Secure Flight , a pre-screening process that involves identifying “low and high risk passengers prior to their arrival at the airport by matching their names with trusted travelers and watchlists.” .) In other words. If you share your name with someone on the No Flying List, you will most likely be stopped.
Another theory is that they determine your “risk” based on what would be considered “suspicious behavior”, such as buying a one-way ticket or paying for your flight in cash. As we wrote earlier , you may also be selected if you are flying to or from a country considered to be a high-risk country.
What can you do to prevent this from happening? Fortunately, yes. You should apply for a compensation number through the DHS website to help resolve any travel issues if your name is on the watch list. If your application is approved, you will receive a correction number that you can include in your traveler information when you book flights in the future so that you will never be stopped again.