The Public Still Lacks Basic Information About the "No Fly" List


For Immediate Release: July 21, 2003

SAN FRANCISCO – The ACLU of Northern California (ACLU-NC) found “troubling inadequacies” with the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) management of the “no fly” list following a review of documents that were recently released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Privacy Act. The ACLU-NC, and activists Rebecca Gordon and Jan Adams, sent the requests to the FBI and the TSA last December. To date, the FBI has yet to disclose any documents.

In a five-page analysis of the TSA documents, the ACLU-NC found the following:

• TSA lacks protocols for ensuring that First Amendment protected activity is not a reason for an individual being placed on the "no fly" list.
• TSA does not track how many times individuals are incorrectly stopped because of the "no fly" list, stating that there is "no pressing need to do so."
• TSA appears to have no instructions for airlines on how to respond to "no fly" list matches.
• TSA appears to provide no guidance to state and local law enforcement about the "no fly" list.

The ACLU analysis of the documents found that the TSA failed to answer basic questions about the “no fly” list. “When thousands of innocent travelers are likely being subjected to unwarranted searches and detentions because of these lists, the public should be able to understand and deliberate on whether the lists improve security, or are just a waste of government resources,” said Jayashri Srikantiah, staff attorney of the ACLU of Northern California. “No public debate or government accountability is possible so long as the federal government continues to keep the public in the dark.”

According to information the ACLU-NC obtained from San Francisco International Airport on April 8, 2003, at least 339 passengers have been questioned because their names appeared on the "no fly" list. Recently obtained documents from Oakland International Airport indicate that at least 24 people have been stopped at that airport because of the "no fly" list.