What do I mean by that? Look at the above graphic, a version of the famous Rubin’s Vase illusion-it’s a picture of a vase, or of two faces starting at each other, depending on which part of the image one focuses on. Of course defenders stress that PreCheck is “voluntary.” But one of our fundamental objections to the TSA’s PreCheck is the prospect that this whitelist will gradually be transformed into its own giant blacklist.
That would bring it uncomfortably close to the Chinese system. It doesn’t help matters that the TSA in December posted a solicitation in which it floated the idea of expanding the PreCheck background checks to include social media records, location data, and purchase history. But as we have argued before, putting the government in the business of rating its own citizens is a novel and unwise step. Then there’s its insidious PreCheck program.Ī lot of people love PreCheck, and I don’t blame them: it plays to the natural human tendency to appreciate special treatment, and it constitutes an official recognition of what each of us knows to be true about ourself: we are not a terrorist (a recognition that is all the more welcome since the rest of the airline security system implies the opposite). And the agency is compiling blacklists (as well as using those compiled by other agencies).
TSA is already using its Secure Flight program to label passengers “high risk,” “low risk,” or unknown risk” based on available information about them.
This is our nightmare scenario for where our own government’s background check programs may be headed. I recently learned that China is instituting a system in which each of its citizens will receive a government score for his or her behavior, linked to their national identity card, and rating them on various criteria including financial credibility, criminal record, and social media behavior.
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