Passenger Profiling

[Page 734]Passenger profiling at airports consists of using various data sets to assess the potential threat of those passing through airports and preparing to board airplanes. It has been heralded as the new way of smart security in aviation. Profiling at the airport is now used in multiple ways, ranging from commercial interests to the War on Terror. However, analyses of passenger data have raised concerns both in terms of social sorting that categorizes individuals in discriminatory fashion and in terms of privacy and data protection. This entry examines the current security practices at airports and describes how obtaining and analyzing data from passenger profiling could improve the traveling experience for those affected by increased security measures. Privacy concerns, along with concerns that passenger profiling ...