False Flying

From the G & M:

"Ottawa aims to improve no-fly list data to curb cases of mistaken identity"

 

The federal government wants to improve the accuracy of its no-fly list and curb “false positives” by adding addresses, birth dates and social-insurance numbers to the security data it shares with airlines.

Ottawa has been stung by a spate of complaints in recent months from airline passengers, including the parents of young children who have faced problems boarding flights because their names match those of people on the list. Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said on Sunday he’s committed to improving the reliability of the government’s flagging system, which is intended to keep people with terrorist ties from getting on planes. “We are looking at all the ways we can make those identification factors more precise so you reduce the number of false positives,” Mr. Goodale told CTV’s Question Period with The Globe and Mail’s Robert Fife. “Obviously, when that happens for a six-year-old child [it] can be a pretty traumatizing experience for them and their families.”  Mr. Goodale pledged to “get this right,” while acknowledging there is no appeal mechanism available to many individuals who are mistaken for people on the list, known officially as the Passenger Protect Program. And he warned her that there are other issues “beyond our control,” including other countries such as the United States, which may flag Canadians for scrutiny, even within Canada. The government recently notified airlines that existing Canadian travel regulations do not require secondary security screening when red flags come up about individuals under the age of 18. Mr. Goodale told CTV on Sunday that he’s working with Transport Canada on a review of its security screening regime to add more “identifiers” to the list. “Right now, all you get on the screen is a name, and that doesn’t carry with it an address, a [social-insurance number] or individual pin identifier or a date of birth,” Mr. Goodale said. In addition, Mr. Goodale acknowledged that there should be a better appeal process for individuals who wrongly end up on the list. “All of that needs to be done,” he told CTV. Also on Sunday, Mr. Goodale said he’s working to draft legislation before the summer to create Parliamentary oversight of the government’s spy and intelligence operations. “It is a system that works in virtually every other jurisdiction in the Western world and we need to have it in Canada,” he said.

 

 

^ Every country that has a no-fly list needs to make these kind of "back-ups." Just having a name means nothing anymore. The list should at minimum include: a picture of the person, their name and  their birthday. It doesn't make a difference if it involves a child or an adult having a false-positive makes things difficult for that innocent traveler. Not only could they miss their flight, but there's the added shame of being flagged a "terrorist." ^

 

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-aims-to-improve-no-fly-list-data-to-curb-cases-of-mistaken-identity/article28832634/