A federal audit had determined that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) uses an unproven test to determine if flyers are potential security threats.
TSA agents are trained to look out for 36 indicators that could reveal a traveler’s malicious intent, including how often the individual swallows or how wide their eyes are open. The Government Accountability Office (GAO), however, found that there’s very little scientific evidence to support the TSA’s indicator rubric.
“TSA does not have valid evidence that most of the indicators in its revised list of behavioral indicators can be used to identify individuals who may pose a threat to aviation security,” the watchdog concluded.
As part of the audit, TSA submitted 178 sources to back up the use of its behavioral indicators. The GAO found that 98 percent of those sources “do not provide valid evidence.”
Altogether, GAO found that 28 of the 36 indicators used by TSA have zero supporting evidence of credibility. Seven other indicators have only one piece of evidence supporting their utility. Another indicator was backed up by two supporting sources.
The watchdog further noted that 77 percent of the sources provided by GAO were news or opinion pieces that didn’t meet “generally accepted research standards.”
This isn’t the first time GAO has criticized TSA’s behavioral indicator program. A 2013 audit reached similar conclusions, prompting the security agency to cut down its list of indicators to 36 from 94 The agency also responded by significantly reducing staff specifically trained to look for indicators, behavior detection officers (BDO).
As a result of the previous study, GAO didn’t provide any new recommendations, and instead cited TSA’s ongoing work in limiting funding for its behavioral detection activities.
But the oversight body did question whether or not TSA intends to make a clean-break from evidence-free behavioral analysis.
“We remain concerned that TSA continues to deploy behavior detection as a security measure without having valid evidence of its effectiveness in identifying passengers who may pose a threat to aviation security,” GAO stated.
