PASSENGER PROFILING

Passenger profiling has been a burning topic for quite some time and civil rights groups have been hot on the issue. Under the current system, passengers who "fit the profile" are selected for heightened security procedures. These measures can include a thorough search of their luggage in front of other passengers, intrusive personal questioning, tagging of luggage with orange tape, a physical escort from the check-in counter to the airport gate by security personnel (in full view of other passengers), and being strip-searched.

A House panel heard from two female U.S. citizens that were strip-searched and forced to consume laxatives when returning from overseas. Customs agents decided that these two women "Fit the Profile". Another woman, upon her return from Hong Kong, was strip-searched, X-rayed, hospitalized, forced to drink a laxative, and then released. Her ordeal lasted 25 hours.

Profiling criteria is kept secret for "security reasons". A "profile" is a stereotype and when potential criminals may find the profiling system easy to evade.

New legislation will try to limit the time a passenger can be detained before being granted access to an attorney. In the meantime, the American Civil Liberties Union is compiling a database of passengers who feel that their rights were violated due to passenger profiling.

Passenger Profiling on International Flights

What are the agents told to do if someone comes up and hands them a passport and they look Suspicious? The airline cannot, by law, keep someone from boarding a plane; even if they look suspicious. There is something called a PPBM tag that the agents are advised to put on the passengers bag. The tag, "positive passenger bag match," is used to make sure the passenger is on the same plane as his bags.

Here’s how it works. The passenger checks in and an agent thinks he looks suspicious. The Agent places a PPBM tag on the passengers bag. A number is written on the tag known as the sequence Number. This number is also written on the passenger’s boarding pass. When the passenger goes to the Gate, this bag tag makes sure the suspicious passenger gets on the plane. If the passenger checks in but misses the flight, the bags he checked in with the PPBM tag are removed from the plane (in case they Contain explosives). Next time you check in for a flight (for an int’l destination), check to see if your Tag says PPBM or has an extra tag (usually very bright in color) with a sequence number. The tag can mean one of two things—either the computer randomly chose you to have a PPBM tag, or you looked suspicious to the agent that was checking you in.