Secondary Security Screening Selection

Secondary Security Screening Selection or Secondary Security Screening Selectee, known by its initials SSSS, is an airport security measure in the United States which selects passengers for additional inspection. People from certain countries are subject to it by default.[1] The passengers may be known as Selectee, Automatic Selectee or the Selectee list.[1] The number of names on the list fluctuates and is a secret, although the Transportation Security Administration apparently says there are tens of thousands of names on it.[2]

Boarding pass of passenger selected for secondary security screening.
CIA Assessment on Surviving Secondary Screening

The Selectee list has been cited by civil liberties groups to be infringing on privacy rights and potential for racial and ethnic discrimination.[3]

Procedure when selected

Passengers who have been selected for secondary screening will have the letters SSSS or *S* (all capitals) printed on their boarding passes as a signal for the need for a thorough search at security checkpoints.[4] In the case of Southwest Airlines, secondary screening selectees may have a "checkerboard" pattern printed on their boarding passes.[5]

SSSS passengers will go through a more intensive screening process which may include enhanced pat-downs. Their carry-on luggage may also be inspected by hand. In the case of film or other items that cannot be X-rayed, the agent may perform a test for possible explosive materials. The screener may also use a hand held metal detector to search the passenger for metal objects.[1]

Selection criteria

Neither the TSA nor the airlines publish the criteria that are used when boarding passes are issued to identify passengers who will be given extra screening or be denied boarding.

Some criteria are:

  • Passengers with a one-way reservation.[6]
  • Passengers who pay cash for their tickets.[7]
  • Random selection, according to TSA spokeswoman Amy Von Walter in 2004,[4] and as suggested by the Washington State branch of the ACLU.[2]

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has insisted no minors are listed on the No Fly List or the Selectee List. However, as of July 2017, minors with similar names to those on the lists still have difficulty in obtaining boarding passes and are subjected to additional screening.[8][9]

Critics of the George W. Bush administration, including Sen. Edward Kennedy, Rep. John Lewis, feminist Naomi Wolf, peace activists Father John Dear and Sister Virgine Lawinger, Center for Constitutional Rights lawyers Barbara Olshansky and Nancy Chang, and Green Party activists Nancy Oden and Doug Stuber have been pulled aside for enhanced screening, leading activists to believe that some selectees were being harassed for speaking out against government policies.[10][11][12]

gollark: I mean, a domain is a domain.
gollark: And to reverse-engineer your coffee machine's protocol.
gollark: Well, not *as much* as with an app on your phone with all the permissions.
gollark: Or to record voicemails or whatever.
gollark: To spy on you better?

See also

References
  1. "TSA Leaks Sensitive Airport Screening Manual". Wired. December 2009.
  2. ACLU. "Frequently Asked Questions About the No-Fly List". aclu-wa.org. Washington State. Archived from the original on February 12, 2014. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  3. "ACLU Files Lawsuit Challenging The 'No Fly List'". avstop.com. July 2010.
  4. "Associated Press: "Women complain about airport patdowns"". Retrieved July 27, 2008.
  5. "Gilmore v. Gonzales". FreeToTravel.org. United States District Court, Northern District of California. July 18, 2002. Retrieved October 24, 2015. Southwest... clerk tore up the boarding pass, printed out another one with a checkerboard pattern on it... you become selected for secondary screening...
  6. Singel, R: "How to Get Off a Government Watchlist" Archived July 24, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Wired, April 16, 2007. Accessed January 8, 2008
  7. Women voice objection to intrusive searches at US airports DailyTimes, December 1, 2004. Accessed January 8, 2008
  9. Are These Kids Terrorists?
  10. Sherwood Ross. "Bush Restricting Travel Rights of Over 100,000 U.S. Citizens". WarIsACrime.org. Archived from the original on August 14, 2016. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  11. Naomi Wolf (September 2007). The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot. Chelsea Green Publishing. pp. 93–94.
  12. Dave Lindorff (November 22, 2002). "The No-Fly List: Is a federal agency systematically harassing travelers for their political beliefs?". In These Times.
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