Secondary Security Screening Selection or Secondary Security Screening Selectee, known by its initials SSSS, is an

airport security Airport security includes the techniques and methods used in an attempt to protect passengers, staff, aircraft, and airport property from malicious harm, crime, terrorism, and other threats. Aviation security is a combination of measures and hum ...

measure in the United States which selects passengers for additional inspection. People from certain countries are subject to it by default. The passengers may be known as Selectee, Automatic Selectee or the Selectee list. The number of names on the list fluctuates and is a secret, although the Transportation Security Administration apparently says there are tens of thousands of names on it. The Selectee list has been cited by civil liberties groups to be infringing on privacy rights and potential for racial and ethnic discrimination.

Procedure when selected

Passengers who have been selected for secondary screening will have the letters ''SSSS'' or ''*S*'' (all capitals) printed on their boarding passes as a signal for the need for a thorough search at security checkpoints. In the case of Southwest Airlines, secondary screening selectees may have a "checkerboard" pattern printed on their boarding passes. SSSS passengers will go through a more intensive screening process which may include enhanced pat-downs. Their carry-on luggage may also be inspected by hand. In the case of film or other items that cannot be

X-ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...

ed, the agent may perform a test for possible explosive materials. The screener may also use a hand held

metal detector A metal detector is an instrument that detects the nearby presence of metal. Metal detectors are useful for finding metal objects on the surface, underground, and under water. The unit itself, consist of a control box, and an adjustable shaft, ...

to search the passenger for metal objects.

Selection criteria

Neither the TSA nor the airlines publish the criteria that are used when boarding passes are issued to identify passengers who will be given extra screening or be denied boarding. Some criteria are: * Passengers with a one-way reservation.Singel, R
"How to Get Off a Government Watchlist"
, ''Wired,'' April 16, 2007. Accessed January 8, 2008 * Passengers who pay cash for their tickets.Women voice objection to intrusive searches at US airports
''DailyTimes'', December 1, 2004. Accessed January 8, 2008 * Random selection, according to TSA spokeswoman Amy Von Walter in 2004, and as suggested by the Washington State branch of the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

. The

Transportation Security Administration The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has authority over the security of transportation systems within, and connecting to the United States. It was created ...

(TSA) has insisted no minors are listed on the

No Fly List The No Fly List maintained by the United States federal government's Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) is one of several lists included in algorithmic rulesets used by government agencies and airlines to decide who to allow to board airline flight ...

or the Selectee List. However, , minors with similar names to those on the lists still have difficulty in obtaining boarding passes and are subjected to additional screening. Are These Kids Terrorists?
/ref> Critics of the George W. Bush administration, including Sen.

Edward Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...

, Rep.

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

, feminist

Naomi Wolf Naomi Rebekah Wolf (born November 12, 1962) is an American feminist author, journalist and conspiracy theorist. Following her first book ''The Beauty Myth'' (1991), she became a leading spokeswoman of what has been described as the third wave ...

, peace activists Father John Dear and Sister Virgine Lawinger,

Center for Constitutional Rights The Center for Constitutional RightsThe Center for Constitutional Rights
(CCR) is a

lawyers Barbara Olshansky and Nancy Chang, and

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

activists Nancy Oden and Doug Stuber have been pulled aside for enhanced screening, leading activists to believe that some selectees were being harassed for speaking out against government policies.

References

{{reflist

External links

ACLU of Washington: What is the "Selectee List"?

Aviation security Transportation Security Administration

Procedure when selected

Selection criteria

See also

References

External links