Daily Archives: October 26, 2007

More Federal Watch List Misadventures

A centralized ‘no-fly’ terrorist watch list that scrutinizes Americans the most has continued to grow at an astonishing rate and currently contains 860,000 names of people suspected of having terrorist ties. Questions pertaining to the size and effectiveness of the list reportedly continue to cause concerns.

A report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) shows the terrorist watch list resulted in nearly 20,000 positive ‘matches’ of persons suspected of having terrorist ties in 2006. Because the list is used almost routinely during police stops and domestic air travel, Americans comprise the bulk of the list.

The GAO’s report was presented at a hearing of the Senate’s Homeland Security Committee causing Senators to express concern about the size and effectiveness of the list.

The GAO report (PDF, html summary) includes a few new details about the size and operation of the list. More details about the terrorist watch list can be found in the ‘We’re All Terrorists! Watch List Makes 20,000 ‘Matches’ in ’06’ article from Wired.com.

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