Does this bother anyone else or just me?

[DebbieB]

I dont' either, but I meant if John Smith on the no fly list is a 40 year old and you have 8 yo John Smith standing in front of you, when does common sense kick in?

I don't think they know at a TSA checkpoint why someone was flagged. They just know they are flagged and have to do a full screening. With everyone coming through, they don't have time to look up John Smith on the no fly list and see he's 40. Adding DOB to the record is going to sort that out ahead of time.

 

[npmommie]

The issue is that TSA is wrong. There are kids getting caught in the N-F-L net every day, and the only real way that you can proactively avoid it is to register the child's birthdate with the airline.

My kids are frequent fliers. They have mileage accounts, and for that reason their birthdates are on file with several airlines and have been for their entire lives. In that 12 years we have not had any problems. I'm an identity theft victim (HR at work got hacked), so I do check and safeguard. Having that information on file with the airlines has made travel a lot easier for us, and I personally find the convenience and the travel rewards to be worth the small risk. (Also, we travel internationally, so their passports are seen by a lot of people as well.)

The thing is, you really cannot perfectly safeguard that information anyway. It is out there and pretty easy to find if you are determined and have the proper tools. The same people who would be likely to steal it from the airlines or from TSA are just as likely to get it from a school system, a health insurance company, or the Social Security Administration. I can guard against dumpster-divers pretty effectively, but I'm kidding myself if I think that I can foil a determined hacker. My solution is just to be watchful, so that I can take effective steps quickly if a problem arises.

In the reading I've done, and my conversations with law enforcement since becoming an identity theft victim, one piece of information keeps getting repeated. As with physical abuse, kids are more at risk of identity theft from people that they know. Kids' identities are most commonly stolen by members of their extended families. Professional thieves would rather go after adults who have established favorable credit ratings already.

this is part of why it bugs me, because it is just one more place that it is out there.

 

[NHdisneylover]

It is not always wasy to tell that a teen in young enough. DD just turned 13 last month. Throughout the last year (while she was 12) she was regularly mistaken for an adult. People have even thought she was her brother's mom on multiple occasions (she is two years older but he is small for her age and she is big) and also the teacher at school (a parent came in on a break and she was in the classroom and he just started in on explaining his situation to her assuming she was the teacher). Getting her birthday from her proves she is who she says she is as the birthday would match what is on file (never an issue as we always travel with the kids' passports). I think otherwise some very young looking terrorists could easily pretend to be Jane Doe (name of kid across the street), etc. Honestly I am surprised that children do not need ID to fly at this point.

 

[Sandbox]

What if you said, "I don't give that out"?

 

[npmommie]

What if you said, "I don't give that out"?

I would imagine it would hold up travel and cause a delay.
and extra screening
the TSA information says it is voluntary to give the information but..........from the TSA site........."Providing this information is voluntary; however, if it is not provided, you may be subject to additional screening or denied transport or authorization to enter a sterile area."

 

[NotUrsula]

The most likely result is that she wouldn't be able to purchase airline tickets online anymore; she would have to do it via telephone. There is a surcharge for that.

TSA won't decide on their own to hold up a kid for lack of ID, but the airline may flag it for secondary, which means that TSA has to do it.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I am the opposite of you. I want more security. I think what the have in place is a joke.

I want DNA fingerprinting, at hospitals, airports, etc. That way when a kid that has been taken, abducted, whatever swipes his finger the person is busted.

 

[npmommie]

I am the opposite of you. I want more security. I think what the have in place is a joke.

what makes you think I don't want security. of course I do, but asking for our personal information is not going to keep a terrorist off the plane.
how will it? if you can tell me how it will keep a terrorist off a plane then I am all for it.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

what makes you think I don't want security. of course I do, but asking for our personal information is not going to keep a terrorist off the plane.
how will it? if you can tell me how it will keep a terrorist off a plane then I am all for it.

I said I want MORE security than you. I did not imply that you do not want security. I want everyone to be chipped.

 

[ols386]

I thought they had to have the children's birthdates because so many have the same name. Well, not all names, but there are many duplicate names (first and last) out there. Maybe for security reasons?

 

[C.Ann]

As long as they didn't want their SS#'s as well, it wouldn't bother me at all..

 

[Bluestars]

It doesn't bother me at all.

 

[golfgal]

Names and birth-dates because the age I gave for meals was listed different... I said "Listed where? What do you mean? Are you keeping track of my kids?!?!?" I'm still steamed over it, it happened both times when I called about dining reservations. Speaking of reservations, I had to answer about 4 personal questions before they'd let me change anything. It bugged me so much I have decided I will not even make any more ressies. I really do not like the idea of them keeping such a close eye on my family I don't care what sort of corporate data mining they are doing, I think they need to keep the kids out of it. Not cool at all.

That wouldn't have anything to do with people abusing the free dining, getting kids into the parks on youth tickets vs adult tickets by lying about their ages, etc. now would it?

How would you like to show up at a Disney resort and have your reservation canceled because someone called in and changed your information using your name??

Personally I can't see getting all worked up over nothing. Life is just too short.

 

[MissyDVC]

It doesn't bother me at all.

me either

 

[bavaria]

I think that this is even more of an outrage (and also part of OP's Secure Flight concerns) - collecting information from people not even flying TO America or landing IN America. It doesn't just violate personal privacy - it violates the constitutions or charters of other nations.

I have no issue with domestic flights - a nation should be able to implement rules on its own passengers, if they make some sense.

The program would collect the name, gender and birth date of the approximately five million Canadians who fly through American airspace en route to destinations such as the Caribbean, Mexico and South America, even if their planes don't touch the ground in the States.

I can imagine that if Canada did the same for American flyovers there would be a lot more outrage. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/01/01/airlines-passenger-privacy001.html

I have never been one of the anti-TSA crowd; read my years of posts. But I am truly disgusted with recent reactions.