TSA's Database Tracks Rowdy Fliers

(CANVAS STAFF REPORTS) - You might want to limit the caffeine intake before your next flight.

The federal government is tracking all those outbursts over flight delays, lost luggage and harsh comments directed at airport screeners. The Transportation Security Administration says its database on such incidents is aimed at preventing workplace violence against screeners, according to a report by USA Today .

The TSA says people involved in airport incidents – aggressors, victims and witnesses – could find their most private information in the database, such as name, Social Security number, home phone number and address.

USA Today cites a TSA document published in February that says "database information can be given to government agencies and to airports, airlines and rail and bus systems in cases involving their workers or job applicants."

The TSA responded to the USA Today report on their official blog , stating that the the workplace violence database contains roughly 30 names. The also stated that the people made the list because of incidents where the police were involved and / or they were arrested.

But privacy watchdogs are taking notice. They fear the practice could lead to innocent people ending up on government watch lists and enduring additional airport screening, the newspaper reports.

"Is this going to be the baby watch list? There's a potential for the misuse of information or the mischaracterization of harmless events as potential threats," Michael German, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, tells USA Today.

Smarter Traveler reports that the list is small, with roughly 240 incidents and some 30 of them involving attacks against TSA officials.

TSA spokesman Kristin Lee tells USA Today that the database was created in 2007 to help protect the nation's 50,000 airport screeners from being attacked or threatened.

Lee acknowledges that attacks and threats are rare, and that information on passengers is taken from incident reports written by TSA officials when a traveler threatens or attacks a screener, according to the newspaper.

"The program's focus is on prevention," Lee said, adding that the database is a tool that helps TSA spot trends in incidents, which can then help shape workplace-safety programs.