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Registered Traveler

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The Registered Traveler Pilot Program is an airline passenger security assessment system that was tested in the United States air travel industry in 2005. It was used in several U.S. airports in a voluntary pilot phase and continues in operation in several airports around the country. There are also registered traveler programs in other countries, such as in London, UK. It is administered by TTAC, the TSA office responsible for Secure Flight, the replacement for the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS) and the canceled CAPPS II counter-terrorism system. Registered Traveler is a public/private partnership with the TSA and the Registered Traveler Interoperabilty Consortium (RTIC) providing rules and standards for private Enrollment Providers that sign up participants. As of August 2007, FLO, Unisys, Verant, Verified, and Vigilant have met TSA's criteria to provide Enrollment services for Registered Traveler.[1]

Overview

The program seeks to identify passengers who pose a minimal security risk, and then provide those passengers an enhanced security checkpoint experience. Passengers will voluntarily pay a fee and submit to a background check to become a Registered Traveler. Passengers who pass the background check will be issued a smartcard credential for use at the security checkpoints of airports that participate in the program. Registered Travelers will have access to a reserved security lane and will enjoy a shorter wait at the security checkpoint. Other benefits, such as allowing Registered Travelers to keep their coats and shoes on and their laptops in their bags have also been discussed and Clear Registered Traveler does have machines that now screen shoes for metal, and as long as a traveler doesn't have metal, they may not have to take off their shoes. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has decreed that the screening of Registered Travelers must be at least as thorough as the screening of other passengers, in order to prevent a terrorist with a clean background from compromising the system. TSA has oversight over all RT programs. They also can't take on board prohibited items.[2] Additionally, Registered Travelers will not be exempt from random secondary screening. Therefore it is anticipated that the companies that run Registered Traveler checkpoints will deploy advanced screening equipment in order to provide Registered Travelers with a less intrusive screening experience. Any U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident over the age of 18 can apply for membership, as can minors over the age of 12 with parental or guardian sponsorship.

Airports

Currently the Registered Traveler program is fully operational under the program names Clear and RtGo.

These Registered Traveler programs are currently in operation at the following airports:

These airports are currently implementing RT programs:

The following airports are intending to implement RT programs in the near future:

The following airports have expressed interest and/or have requested TSA approval for the RT program:

Programs

These Registered Traveler programs are inter-operable and membership to one works with other corresponding RT programs that have TSA approval.

RtGo

RtGo is operated by Unisys Corporation. Membership is $100 per year, with option to prepay for up to 5 years.

FlyClear

FlyClear is operated by Verified Identity Pass.[4] FlyClear is also working on an international program and has a contract with Toronto Airport. FlyClear passengers pay $99.95 per year for use of the service. Clear was founded by Steven Brill, a Court TV lawyer.

Identifying information

Passengers who participate in this system must first provide personal biographical information including name, address, phone number, citizenship status, and previous addresses, along with other information. The biographical information will be collected by a commercial Registered Traveler service provider. The biographical portion of the enrollment may be accomplished via a secure web site. Next, the applicant will proceed to the biometric phase of the enrollment process. During biometric enrollment applicants will present identification documents and fingerprints. Applicants may also choose to have an iris scan performed if they wish to use an iris scan as an alternative to a fingerprint scan at the security checkpoint. Once the biometric enrollment is complete, the service provider submits the collected data to the TSA which performs a Security Threat Assessment (STA) of the applicant. If the assessment does not indicate that the applicant is suspected of posing a risk to aviation security, the TSA will return an approved STA result to the service provider. The service provider will then provide the passenger with a Registered Traveler card. The card will be a smartcard, containing biometric information to prevent the card from being used by unauthorized persons. This card will then be inserted into a verification kiosk at the special checkpoints, which will verify the passengers biometrics (fingerprint or iris scan) and acknowledge membership and clearance to proceed to RT screening.

Controversy

This system, like the related Secure Flight, has come under fire for its privacy implications although less so because Registered Traveler unlike Secure Flight is voluntary. The potential effectiveness has also been questioned.

Privacy

On the privacy front Registered Traveler collects far more information than Secure Flight including biometrics. While supporters assert that this program is voluntary, critics assert that RT's extensive background checks will be misused. The privacy safeguards and rules can be found in the RTIC specification and the TSA RT Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA)

Effectiveness

Similar to the concerns raised about CAPPS and CAPPS II, critics point out that any program designed to exclude certain passengers from scrutiny will provide a backdoor for potential terrorists, since they would likely seek Registered Traveler status. This criticism draws on the 9/11 Commission finding that 9 of the 19 hijackers involved in the September 11, 2001 attacks were flagged by the CAPPS I system but were not intercepted, because security was focused myopically on luggage bombs. However, those participating in the Registered Traveler Program currently pass through the same security checkpoints and are screened the same as any other individual, the main difference being RT members enjoy a much shorter wait before screening. Unless Registered Traveler is altered to provide a security benefit, the criticism that it allows a backdoor is illogical.

Fairness

Because the Registered Travelers Program, in its current form, does not exempt members from any of the security checks of the TSA, it is often critisized as merely being a method by which frequent travelers can pay an annual fee to a private company in order to be permitted to move to the head of the TSA line and not wait their turn along with less frequent travellers.<references/http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2006/11/registered_trav.html> Since the TSA lines are a government program (funded by equal payments on tickets of frequent travelers and non-travelers), this strikes many as being unfair to less frequent travelers.

Value

With TSA lines now being relatively short, the value of being able to skip to the head of such lines is debatable.

References

  1. ^ http://www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/rt/rt-vendors.shtm
  2. ^ *TSA's List of Permitted and Prohibited Items
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Clear Lane Locations and Hours of Operation" (HTML). FlyClear. 2007-08-21. Retrieved 2007-09-01. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  4. ^ FlyClear

See also

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