Data-Divers Go Off The Deep End (Updated)

The Washington Post has an excellent article on how thousands of bits and pieces of data eventually get fed into the watch lists used to screen airline passengers. The system responsible for centralizing the raw data, dubbed the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, is a response to the post-9/11 need to share data, but it's got some wacky problems, as the article notes. "TIDE is a vacuum cleaner for both proven and unproven information, and its managers disclaim responsibility for how other agencies use the data," the Post writes.

My favorite TIDE mix-up the article describes involves the wife of Senator Ted Stevens (R-Tubes). Mrs. Stevens has been "delayed repeatedly" by TSA officials concerned that Catherine Stevens is really Cat Stevens, now known as Yusuf Islam, who is banned from flying to the U.S. was barred entry to the U.S. in 2004.That's an odd mix-up to make (see pictures), given that that well, Mrs. Stevens is a woman, and Cat Stevens is an aging former rock star who converted to Islam.

The reason Cat Stevens is/was on the no-fly list? Classified.*

The article described the major problems associated with TIDE as size and complexity:

Ballooning from fewer than 100,000 files in 2003 to about 435,000, the growing database threatens to overwhelm the people who manage it. "The single biggest worry that I have is long-term quality control," said Russ Travers, in charge of TIDE at the National Counterterrorism Center in McLean. "Where am I going to be, where is my successor going to be, five years down the road?"

TIDE has also created concerns about secrecy, errors and privacy. The list marks the first time foreigners and U.S. citizens are combined in an intelligence database. The bar for inclusion is low, and once someone is on the list, it is virtually impossible to get off it. At any stage, the process can lead to "horror stories" of mixed-up names and unconfirmed information, Travers acknowledged.

Data-mining is a tough area to be in. As I wrote last week, Singapore is trying a system that could theoretically sift through data from all agencies, but it's unclear if it would be as prone to "false positives." That's certain a concern for TIDE, which has led to a nightmares for people who share names with suspected terrorists:

A unit at the screening center responds to complaints, he said, but will not remove a name if it is shared by a terrorism suspect. Instead, people not on the list who share a name with someone listed can be issued letters instructing airline personnel to check with the TSA to verify their identity. The GAO reported that 31 names were removed in 2005.

So, unless Mrs. Stevens changes her name, it looks like she's linked for eternity with her sort-of doppelganger, Yusuf Islam.

Our blog-brothers at 27B have more...

*Updated: Lisa, writing in the comments, says that Cat Stevens can in fact fly to the United States, and did so in 2006. Turns out, not only is Catherine Stevens being mistaken for Cat Stevens, but Cat Stevens, aka Yusuf Islam, was mistaken for Youssouf Islam, who is on the no-fly list, according to Time Magazine.