TSA Ready for 'Checkpoint Friendly' Laptop Bags

TSA Public Affairs, www.tsa.gov, 8/5/2008 (excerpted)

To help streamline the security process and better protect laptops, starting August 16 the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will allow passengers to leave their laptop computers in bags that meet new "checkpoint friendly" standards.

This public-private collaboration took just five months to go from concept to reality. TSA reached out to manufacturers in March to design bags that will produce a clear and unobstructed image of the laptop when undergoing X-ray screening. Designs meeting this objective will enable TSA to allow laptops to remain in bags for screening. More than 60 manufacturers responded and 40 submitted prototypes for testing.

For a bag to be considered checkpoint friendly it should meet the following standards:

  • A designated laptop-only section
  • The laptop-only section completely unfolds to lay flat on the X-ray belt
  • No metal snaps, zippers or buckles inside, underneath or on top of the laptop-only section
  • No pockets on the inside or outside of the laptop-only section
  • Nothing packed in the laptop-only section other than the computer itself.

TSA expects the majority of new bags meeting checkpoint friendly standards to be available for purchase in mid-August. There are a small percentage of bags currently on the market that meet the new standards, include sleeve-like carrying cases without pockets or zippers. These bag types have been tested and can produce a clear, unobstructed image as long as nothing else is in the case.

TSA is not approving or endorsing any bag design or manufacturer and will only allow laptops to stay in bags through screening if they provide a clear and unobstructed X-ray image of the laptop.

For images of checkpoint friendly designs, please visit www.tsa.gov.

Editor's Note: USA TODAY reports that “Among the manufacturers selling TSA-approved laptop bags are Mobile Edge, Skooba Design and Targus Inc.” (AP, 8/6/2008)

Update On Verified Identity Pass, Inc. Clear®'s Registered Traveler Enrollment

TSA Public Affairs, www.tsa.gov, 8/11/2008 (excerpted)

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced today that Verified Identity Pass, Inc. – operator of Clear® – has met program encryption standards for enrollment computers and may resume Registered Traveler enrollment immediately.

This change comes after Verified Identity Pass, Inc. reported an unencrypted Clear®-owned laptop computer containing data of approximately 33,000 customers was missing from San Francisco International Airport. The laptop was later recovered by Clear® officials at the airport. It was voluntarily surrendered to TSA officials for forensic examination. The results of that exam remain under review.

Verified Identity Pass, Inc. took steps to encrypt all enrollment computers and provided a third party audit verifying the encryption. TSA has accepted the audit and provided authorization to the sponsoring entities (airports/airlines) to resume enrollment.

TSA will be conducting random audits of Clear® operations at airports across the country to further ensure compliance. TSA has also asked Verified Identity Pass, Inc. to provide a comprehensive report detailing the status of all security features associated with the Clear® program and to conduct a new and complete annual audit consistent with program standards.

TSA is conducting a broad review of all Registered Traveler providers' information systems and data security processes to ensure compliance with security regulations.

Fliers Without ID Placed on TSA List

Thomas Frank, USA TODAY, 8/13/2008 (excerpted)

The Transportation Security Administration has collected records on thousands of passengers who went to airport checkpoints without identification, adding them to a database of people who violated security laws or were questioned for suspicious behavior.

The TSA began storing the information in late June, tracking many people who said they had forgotten their driver's license or passport at home. The database has 16,500 records of such people and is open to law enforcement agencies, according to the TSA.

Asked about the program, TSA chief Kip Hawley told USA TODAY in an interview Tuesday that the information helps track potential terrorists who may be "probing the system" by trying to get though checkpoints at various airports.

Later Tuesday, Hawley called the newspaper to say the agency is changing its policy effective today and will stop keeping records of people who don't have ID if a screener can determine their identity. Hawley said he had been considering the change for a month. The names of people who did not have identification will soon be expunged, he said.

Civil liberties advocates have been fearful that the database includes passengers who have done nothing wrong yet may face extra scrutiny at airports or questioning by authorities investigating possible terrorism. "This information comes back to haunt people," said Barry Steinhardt of the American Civil Liberties Union.

The TSA has been expanding an electronic database that started a couple of years ago to keep track of people who violated security regulations, most often by bringing a dangerous item to a checkpoint.

The agency then began adding names of people who were questioned by police but not necessarily charged after an airport screener saw them acting suspiciously. In those cases, the TSA can keep records for 15 years of someone's name, address, Social Security number, nationality, race and physical features, as well as identifying information about a traveling companion, according to a report by the Homeland Security Department privacy office.

Travelers without ID were added in June after the TSA barred them from airplanes. The agency wanted to identify all passengers to check them against watch lists. Previously, passengers without ID could board airplanes after facing additional searches.

Hawley said the TSA will stop tracking people without ID because they do not automatically represent a security threat. The TSA will still keep records of people who go to checkpoints without ID and then give a false name to screeners.