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For those of you who think data matching is an esoteric topic only considered interesting by the techno-geeks with pocket protectors and taped glasses wandering the hallways of your IT department, a recent article in The New York Times begs to differ.

In Flying? Don’t Book Under a Nickname, Susan Stellin reports on the Secure Flight program of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and its struggles with checking airline passenger names against terrorist watch lists.

TSA is not only recommending that you book your ticket using your full name but also make sure that your name is consistently represented across all your identifications (driver’s license, passport, frequent-flier account). And the TSA will begin requiring airlines to collect birth date and gender for all passengers.

The goal is to improve the process of clearing airline passengers for travel (i.e. matching against terrorist watch lists) while properly identifying individuals that require additional screening.

If you have ever been bored sitting in a meeting about how data matching differentiates potential matches and confirmed matches, then consider the fact that potential matches against a TSA watch list will be kept on file for 7 years and confirmed matches against a TSA watch list will be kept on file for 99 years.

Does data matching suddenly sound much more interesting?

Although it is encouraging to hear that the TSA Secure Flight program is attempting to improve both the data quality of the watch lists and the data matching against those lists, it is disappointing to read that the approach appears to be get airline passengers to standardize their names so that exact matching can be used.

Moreover, does anyone believe that these new requirements will thwart determined terrorists? I certainly don’t… if they can plan an attack, they can certainly make sure their (false) identities are consistent.

What do you think?

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