As Brendan has already posted, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is reportedly expanding its operations to include pre-screening of passengers based on various databases. It is an effort that could surely prove to be an inconvenience to passengers who the TSA chooses to harass, but which would do absolutely nothing to impede a dedicated terrorist from exploiting the obvious flaw in the TSA system: The total disconnect between the physical screening process and the airlines' passenger databases.

Through its pre-screening process the TSA could target individual passengers for additional screening at the gate, but it has absolutely no idea who we are at the time we pass through the security checkpoint. Sure, a security officer does check to see that we match the picture ID we present, and that the name on the ID matches that on a valid-looking ticket. But for domestic travelers, TSA screeners make no effort to match our IDs to any sort of database. Meanwhile, while airlines do require a valid ticket at the gate, they do not check the name on the ticket against a valid picture ID before allowing you to board.

So if I wanted to fly anonymously I would simply book my flight under an assumed name, then print out two different boarding passes: One with the name under which I booked my flight, which I would present at the gate, and the other Photoshopped to include the name that matched my picture ID (real or forged), which I would present to TSA at the security checkpoint. A TSA agent might see my name, but would never check it against a database; the airline would scan my ticket, but their database would not have my real name. There would be absolutely no record of me booking or taking the flight.

Yes, the TSA does stamp and initial your boarding pass at the checkpoint, but the gate agents don't look for that stamp—they frequently reprint boarding passes beyond security, and you could always board by displaying your ticket's barcode on your phone. There really is a total disconnect between the security screening process and the boarding process, if you choose to exploit it.

Now, I don't recommend that you attempt this. It's likely illegal (not that that's your typical terrorist's main concern). Still, even as a lark, it is unlikely that you'd ever be caught.

So yeah, it's hard to see the TSA's new pre-screening process making us any safer. At its best, it's yet more security theater. At its worst, it will be used as a privacy-invading tool for harassing travelers who federal officials choose to harass.