Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

False Positives, Few Matches Plague 'No-Fly' List

Posted by timothy on from the measure-twice-cut-once dept.

lindner writes "According to a recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle, the United States No-Fly List uses a soundex algorithm to match names. Designed 'to quickly summon passenger names or to catch deal-hunting passengers making duplicate bookings.' The system has only managed to rack up a slew of false-positives, including everyone matching soundex ("J. Adams") at one point in time. The problem has gotten so bad that there is now a "Fly List" for chronically misidentified passengers."

5 of 325 comments (clear)

  1. Yet ANOTHER YRO Article? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Is there nothing else to post today? Or have people just gotten confused, and decided that the outcome of every court case or random things having to do with the airline industry qualify as important civil rights issues?

  2. Re:Will I use my alias name ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    If they really wanted to stop the terrorists they would be stopping the people who LOOK LIKE TERRORISTS. You know, the one with towels on their heads, and not speaking english. Oh, I forgot that would be politically incorrect and might hurt someones feelings, so we need to spend time searching the diapers of 90 year old women.

  3. IN COMMUNIST AMERICA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll


    NAMES FIND YOU !

  4. Damn my mother for naming me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Soundex McKillbush

  5. Re:Uhh... metaphone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    God damn!

    *blam* *blam* *blam* *blam* *blam* *blam* *blam* *blam*

    *clip* *clatter* *click* *ka-chak*

    Motherfucker!!

    *blam* *blam* *blam* *blam* *blam* *blam* *blam* *blam*