Does this bother anyone else or just me?

[npmommie]

Go ahead I am ready, give it to me straight.

It bugs me that I have to provide the birthdates of my kids now when we fly.
adults I understand because we have ID that proves it.
little kids don't have ID, nor are they required to have one to fly, ( within the country)
there are no kids on the no fly list.
if a name comes up similar they can look and see this is a child, therefore not the person on the watch list.

but that would take common sense wouldn't it.
also do they even have the birthdates of those on those lists?

I try to safeguard the kids info because of identity theft, so I feel the fewest places it is out there the better,
I don't trust the government to safeguard personal information, any of ours.

so go ahead, am I too paranoid, or do I have a good point? I can take it.
I can't be the only one.
Has anyone provided their kids info since this has gone into effect?

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

When did this start? We haven't flown since August. But I only have one child (16) who isn't an adult, and no, it wouldn't bother me at all to have to provide his birthdate. We took his passport with us anyway, because he looks older, and now he's got his driver's license, which he'll show next time we fly.

 

[npmommie]

I think it is fairly recent

 

[lvanleer]

Go ahead I am ready, give it to me straight.

It bugs me that I have to provide the birthdates of my kids now when we fly.
adults I understand because we have ID that proves it.
little kids don't have ID, nor are they required to have one to fly, ( within the country)
there are no kids on the no fly list.
if a name comes up similar they can look and see this is a child, therefore not the person on the watch list.
but that would take common sense wouldn't it.
also do they even have the birthdates of those on those lists?

I try to safeguard the kids info because of identity theft, so I feel the fewest places it is out there the better,
I don't trust the government to safeguard personal information, any of ours.

so go ahead, am I too paranoid, or do I have a good point? I can take it.
I can't be the only one.
Has anyone provided their kids info since this has gone into effect?

I have to take issue with the bolded portion because there is a 8 yr old boy in New Jersey whose parents can not check in online or request seats prior to going to the airport to take their trips because the boys' name is similar to one on the no fly list.....he is pulled out for additional screening every time and evidently this has been going on since he was a baby.....the story made national news this week.

 

[diznygirl]

It happens.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10725741/

Having the birth date gives the airline a way to let children board when they have the same name as someone on the Do Not Fly list.

 

[clutter]

if a name comes up similar they can look and see this is a child, therefore not the person on the watch list.

How would they know that it's a child, unless it's a lap baby? I know when I've bought dd tickets, there is no "child" designation. I buy her an adult ticket. I haven't seen a child's rate since I started flying with her at 3, 9 years ago!

 

[LuvOrlando]

Yes it bothers me, I don't like how invasive the questions are getting but at least with the airlines it's about safety.

Speaking of id checks for vacation and all, Disney is bothering me even more. Have you called recently? What on earth is the 20 questions all about? I can tolerate them asking about me but when they start up probing about my kids my blood pressure goes through the roof. I don't like ANYONE hanging onto ANY information about my kids... very very creepy and I do not like it. I do not get packages and tickets are not involved so what gives?

 

[npmommie]

I have to take issue with the bolded portion because there is a 8 yr old boy in New Jersey whose parents can not check in online or request seats prior to going to the airport to take their trips because the boys' name is similar to one on the no fly list.....he is pulled out for additional screening every time and evidently this has been going on since he was a baby.....the story made national news this week.

exactly my point about common sense!
they can see this is a child. yet they continue to do extra screening on him when common sense would tell them this is not the person on the list just by looking at him

 

[jenlynn0808]

It has been going on for awhile. I did all the planning and booking for a GG and I had to give all the kids birthdates for the airline. That was for a Feb. 2008 trip and it was on Northwest (if that matters).

 

[npmommie]

How would they know that it's a child, unless it's a lap baby? I know when I've bought dd tickets, there is no "child" designation. I buy her an adult ticket. I haven't seen a child's rate since I started flying with her at 3, 9 years ago!

airtran .........when I put in the names you can specify CHILD, even though there is no child rate.

Yes it bothers me, I don't like how invasive the questions are getting but at least with the airlines it's about safety.

Speaking of id checks for vacation and all, Disney is bothering me even more. Have you called recently? What on earth is the 20 questions all about? I can tolerate them asking about me but when they start up probing about my kids my blood pressure goes through the roof. I don't like ANYONE hanging onto ANY information about my kids... very very creepy and I do not like it. I do not get packages and tickets are not involved so what gives?

what did they ask about the kids?


I don't see why the airline can't just ask the age of the child.
If tsa says there are no kids on the list that would make sense without being so invasive

 

[npmommie]

It has been going on for awhile. I did all the planning and booking for a GG and I had to give all the kids birthdates for the airline. That was for a Feb. 2008 trip and it was on Northwest (if that matters).

we flew around that time period southwest, and didn't get asked for the birthdates
maybe some airlines started sooner than others

 

[cheermom1]

I have to take issue with the bolded portion because there is a 8 yr old boy in New Jersey whose parents can not check in online or request seats prior to going to the airport to take their trips because the boys' name is similar to one on the no fly list.....he is pulled out for additional screening every time and evidently this has been going on since he was a baby.....the story made national news this week.

This same thing happened to a friends kid..he is a teen and was on a trip with one of classes ..he missed his plane b/c of it...then when he got to the other airport to connect he almost missed his plane there...just b/c his name is the same as one on the no flight list....however after it was all said and done the age on the person on the no flight list was like 50???? I don't know how they found this out but that is what his mom said...you would think that common sense would kick in at some point...

 

[hucifer]

I don't trust the government to safeguard personal information, any of ours.

It's funny that you say this. I work for the federal government and about a year ago there was a accidental spillage of personal information about many employees here (my name included). This information is supposed to be safe-guarded from ever leaking out. Just goes to show that data is only as secret as the individual holding the information.

So...nope. You really can't trust the government with our information.

 

[SaraJayne]

When we flew in November with the kids, I was only asked their ages, not birthdates...I think. I don't remember putting in their birthdates anywhere, though it did ask for child ages.

 

[LuvOrlando]

what did they ask about the kids?

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.

 

[npmommie]

It's funny that you say this. I work for the federal government and about a year ago there was a accidental spillage of personal information about many employees here (my name included). This information is supposed to be safe-guarded from ever leaking out. Just goes to show that data is only as secret as the individual holding the information.

So...nope. You really can't trust the government with our information.

I have had mine compromised 2 times by government agencies and my dh had his compromised once

 

[DebbieB]

I don't see the big deal. I think this is a way to identify people with the same names. If they need to go back and trace someone's travel activities after an incident, they can tell people apart.

I don't agree with the point that they can see it's a child so no extra screening. I would not put it past terrorists to plant explosives on a child.

 

[npmommie]

I don't see the big deal. I think this is a way to identify people with the same names. If they need to go back and trace someone's travel activities after an incident, they can tell people apart.

I don't agree with the point that they can see it's a child so no extra screening. I would not put it past terrorists to plant explosives on a child.

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?

 

[hucifer]

I have had mine compromised 2 times by government agencies and my dh had his compromised once

Nice.

 

[NotUrsula]

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.