Fox Uncovers "Loophole" in O'Hare Security

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Nov 23, 2009 8:00PM

It's about to be one of - if not the - busiest travel weeks of the year, so it must also be time for a news station to ring the alarm on holes in security at our local airports. This time Fox 32 found they were able to fly out several employees to destinations around the country without any of them having to show a government-issued photo ID. Instead, they were able to get through by showing the name on their boarding pass matched that of the name on a credit card. Of course, there's nothing technically illegal about such a maneuver. As Fox itself explains:

By checking credit cards rather than a photo ID, TSA simply was following its own rules, which vaguely state that passengers without an acceptable ID will have to provide "information" to verify their identity, according to Fox Chicago News. The guidelines also state that these passengers "may be subjected to additional screening."

That's not to say it's not a serious issue. Said U.S. Rep Jan Schakowsky, "I have to say, and TSA would agree, this is unacceptable. That many people 100 percent of time getting through security without a photo ID is clearly a problem. We need TSA to come to Chicago and do the appropriate training and make sure procedures are followed." After informing TSA of their investigation, Fox received a statement from TSA that said, in part, "ID verification is an important process and represents one of the many security layers, which also includes threat detection technology, behavior detection officers, and the physical screening that occurs at airports."