I travel on commercial aircraft a fair amount, for both business and leisure. Not a jet-setter by any stretch. But because I cover the federal government in Washington, I've been cleared by a variety of federal departments to go past the virtual velvet rope after going through their disparate and jarringly dissimilar credentialing processes. It occurred to me recently that in this increasingly perplexing era of big data we live in, shouldn't all of those federal databases be very obviously connected? Similarly, shouldn't the TSA have immediate access to the same information that allows me to go inside the U.S. Capitol, the White House, the Treasury, etc. More to the point, why doesn't it know that I'm good to go for places deemed off-limits to the general public?
Where things got a bit strange
Who's to blame? Not the folks on the front line
Let's make a couple of points clear. I have immense respect for the people on the front lines of the TSA screening process. I appreciate the work they do. They get plenty of grief for doing their jobs through no fault of their own. This is an issue with folks at a much higher level. Secondly, I'm not suggesting that I should get special treatment. I'm just wondering aloud about what seems to be a disconnect among all of these databases. I looked online and signed up to be interviewed to join the expedited screening program. A kind officer at the airport suggested it after seeing we were being split up in line.
Thank goodness we've been protected so well over these many years amid the massive security apparatus put in place over the past decade or so. It is possible that all of the information that's been collected has become virtually impossible to manage?
Where things got a bit strange
The point was further hammered home recently when going through an airport with a family member. The TSA agent said the other person had been randomly selected and cleared to participate in the expedited security clearance process. Good for my family member, right? They can go through immediately. Meantime, I needed to go separately through the usual part where the belt and shoes come off, you know the drill. And for goodness sake, don't go into the body image scanner with anything in your pocket.
Who's to blame? Not the folks on the front line
Let's make a couple of points clear. I have immense respect for the people on the front lines of the TSA screening process. I appreciate the work they do. They get plenty of grief for doing their jobs through no fault of their own. This is an issue with folks at a much higher level. Secondly, I'm not suggesting that I should get special treatment. I'm just wondering aloud about what seems to be a disconnect among all of these databases. I looked online and signed up to be interviewed to join the expedited screening program. A kind officer at the airport suggested it after seeing we were being split up in line.
Thank goodness we've been protected so well over these many years amid the massive security apparatus put in place over the past decade or so. It is possible that all of the information that's been collected has become virtually impossible to manage?
