Transportation security

The government is secretly monitoring ordinary US citizens when they fly

Are you a United States citizen who caught a flight in the last few months? If so, there’s a small chance federal air marshals followed and monitored you, as part of a secret TSA program called “Quiet Skies.”

Jana Winter at the Boston Globe on Saturday reported about the previously undisclosed program that specifically targets travelers who “are not under investigation by any agency and are not in the Terrorist Screening Data Base.” Winter cites a TSA bulletin from March, which says the goal of the initiative is to thwart threats to commercial flights posed by “unknown or partially known terrorists.”

All US citizens who come into the country are automatically screened for potential inclusion in Quiet Skies, and thousands of Americans have reportedly already been subject to surveillance at the airport and on their flights under the program. Travelers stay on the Quiet Skies watch list for up to 90 days or three encounters, and they’re never notified they’re on the list at all.