The advent of the PreCheck program has made trips to the airport far less stressful, but how does the TSA keep the screening process secure and unpredictable? Bloomberg Businessweek reports that the TSA uses a “randomizer” app at around 100 airports to determine which passengers will go through the expedited screening process and which will go through standard screening.
After passing the initial risk assessment, passengers are asked to step on to an electronic mat which randomly assigns them to a line. Not only does this method speed up the process, it also prevents accusations of racial profiling on the part of the TSA agents. This is just one part of the “managed inclusion” risk-based security that ensures a greater degree of safety while simultaneously improving the airport experience.
“The whole premise of risk-based security is that the vast majority, if not everybody, traveling every day…are low risk, and so how can we differentiate between those people based on some prescreening, based on information that they share we already know about them such as certain government employees?” TSA Administrator John Pistole said.
As an added benefit, this electronic sorting method has allowed the TSA to cut its budget for 2015 by $100 million. Thanks to one app, the TSA can keep Americans safe and their wallets even safer.
