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Ask Slashdot: Is TSA's PreCheck System Easy To Game?

Posted by Unknown on from the it's-probably-a-crime dept.

OverTheGeicoE writes "TSA has had a preferred traveler program, PreCheck, for a while now. Frequent fliers and other individuals with prior approval from DHS can avoid some minor annoyances of airport security, like removing shoes and light jackets, but not all of the time. TSA likes to be random and unpredictable, so PreCheck participants don't always get the full benefits of PreCheck. Apparently the decision about PreCheck is made when the boarding pass is printed, and a traveler's PreCheck authorization is encoded, unencrypted, on the boarding pass barcode. In theory, one could use a barcode-reading Web site (like this one, perhaps) to translate a barcode into text to determine your screening level before a flight. One might even be able to modify the boarding pass using PhotoShop or the GIMP to, for example, get the screening level of your choice. I haven't been able to verify this information, but I bet Slashdot can. Is TSA's PreCheck system really that easy to game? If you have an old boarding pass lying around, can you read the barcode and verify that the information in TFA is correct?"

8 of 157 comments (clear)

  1. Yes by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yes it is.

    --
    "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
    Never been known to fail..."
    1. Re:Yes by Spiridios · · Score: 4, Funny

      Way to get every /. member on the no fly list.

    2. Re:Yes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Seeing how TSA has no record of ever catching or thwarting a terrorist, I would say "no"

      Well, they're semi-effective at catching TSA employees who steal iPads, laptops and expensive camera gear.

      I mean, the thought of some low-level thug making off with a $1k piece of glass terrifies the hell out of me.

    3. Re:Yes by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 4, Funny

      Did you notice, how I was able to get in "at the front of the line" on this discussion thread?

      --
      "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
      Never been known to fail..."
    4. Re:Yes by houghi · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well, they can't, because what the TSA is actually doing is keeping the terrorists from the planes by employing them. Oh, you were taking about thieves? Well, potato, tomato. Thieves, terrorists, republicans, democrats. Who knows the difference anymore.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
  2. Re:Could be a honeypot by Joe+Decker · · Score: 3, Funny

    Stop it? Don't be silly.

    They've added to it.

    --
    I'm a nature photographer.
  3. RFC 3514 by benjamindees · · Score: 2, Funny

    TSA has implemented the Evil Bit for terrorists.

    --
    "I assumed blithely that there were no elves out there in the darkness"
  4. Re:Could be a honeypot by cdrudge · · Score: 3, Funny

    One last thing: Do you know how they smuggle drugs via airplanes?

    I just came back from a trip this last weekend. I had a 8 or 10 oz bottle of foot powder in my carry on. It flagged them for a double check. The TSA agent removed the bottle, sent the bag back through, it passed, and stuck the foot powder back in the bag.

    I'm no chemist, physicist, or XRay machine technician/operator, so I don't know if a bottle of white foot powder shows up differently than a bottle of cocaine. But I have a feeling it doesn't.