Homeland Security and TSA At Their Best

[Bob Schroeck]

White woman repeatedly detained for being a black man at Canadian border crossings.
-- Bob
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Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Logan Darklighter]

Is it wrong that before clicking on the link, I thought you were saying Michael Jackson was back from the dead?  ^_^

[Matrix Dragon]

... You'd think the list of key details for custom agents would include the line 'SEX: M' at the very least.

[Morganite]

You'd think comparing first names would also be a part of the process.

-Morgan.

[Foxboy]

Sounds like a typo putting in a passport number or some such.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

[Bob Schroeck]

You'd think comparing first names would also be a part of the process.

Well, according to the article, their names are very similar, so that's clearly part of the problem. I suspect from this that the names in the HS/TSA databases might be indexed on Soundex value (because of all the different valid ways some foreign names can be spelled), and the two have the same Soundex. That would explain why it's a "technology problem", and why it can't be "fixed" -- it's not actually "broken" in any real sense.

But as Matrix Dragon says, there ought to be other data in the record that pops up that makes it clear she isn't the black guy.

Hm. Thought. There is, but certain... eager and enthusiastic border agents don't bother to read it all before inconveniencing her; they just see a hit from the database and go off to detain her before coming back and getting more details. It's the crossings where there's someone who actually reads the record that comes up that she goes through without a hassle. Which is why when she's detained they just let her go and say nothing, because if they were to explain why she was held, it would probably open them up to some kind of liability.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[CattyNebulart]

The problem is that in a rush to get a secure border most of the border agents are new, and the organization can't cope. And the databases they use are in many cases silly.

Names are not a unique identifying characteristic. No not even 'weird' sounding names like Muhammad. (Well not until I take over the world, people will be forced to have unique first names just like variables...*MWHUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA*)

On a side note I sometimes doubt most of the border agents can read.
E: "Did they... did they just endorse the combination of the JSDF and US Army by showing them as two lesbian lolicons moving in together and holding hands and talking about how 'intimate' they were?"
B: "Have you forgotten so soon? They're phasing out Don't Ask, Don't Tell."