If you aren't a Senator who can call up the head of Homeland Security, or a high-powered nun whose boss who can ring up Karl Rove, working free from government watch lists will be a tedious and not-very transparent process.
The first rule for most people in getting off a watch list is to accept that you are not on a list.
Most likely, if you are being singled out at the airport for extra scrutiny, or your credit report says you might match a Treasury list, you are the victim of a bad matching algorithm or a vague watch-list entry for some other person.
For instance, men named Robert Johnson across the country have been logging extra hours at airports because there's no way for the airlines to know, without an I.D. check, which Robert Johnson is the one the government is looking for.
The signs you are being snagged by a watch list include the repeated inability to print out a boarding pass at home or through a kiosk; being pulled aside repeatedly for extra questioning and scrutiny of your luggage; not being able to open a bank account or get a mortgage, despite fine credit.
If you only occasionally get an SSSS on your boarding pass, you likely aren't on a watch list -- you've just been elected for random screening, or for buying a one-way ticket. (Real Americans fly roundtrip.)
Once you think you are either on, or the collateral damage of, a watch list, you need to figure out which one got you.
If your problem is domestic- or international-travel-related, you can try the Department of Homeland Security's new online redress system, called the Traveler Redress Inquiry Program, reintroduced in February. (The old one was so badly designed that Congress opened an investigation). After filling out the form with details, a stymied traveler will need to submit copies of identification documents. You can file online, or submit a version by fax, mail or e-mail.
If DHS determines your name is matching incorrectly to a watch-list entry, it may add you to a white list that gets you through airport security without the extra scrutiny.
If you're attempting to shake free of a list you are actually on, it can only be done by the agency that put you on the list in the first place. DHS may forward your complaint to the Terrorist Screening Center, which runs the master watch list, but the department won't tell you which agency blacklisted you.
DHS spokesman Darrin Kayser says the new system demonstrates the government's determination to stop inconveniencing Americans.
"The program exhibits our commitment to an efficient and safe travel experience by offering a seamless redress policy that differentiates between legitimate travelers and those who wish to do us harm," Kayser said.
If you find you can't get a credit card or a mortgage or an apartment lease, you can get a copy of your credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com (you're entitled to a free copy from each of the three major credit bureaus once a year). Look to see if there is an OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) alert on the report. If there is, and you're not actually on the list -- which is public -- contact the credit bureau, the Fair Trade Commission, advocacy groups and the media. There's no clear legal recourse, but shame can work wonders with big companies.
Treasury Department spokeswoman Molly Millerwise says individuals on the OFAC list can challenge the designation, and that OFAC offers detailed guidance on how companies can comply with the list.
"OFAC has and will continue to work with credit bureaus and reporting agencies to help them ensure the accuracy of their reporting on the OFAC list," Millerwise said in an e-mail. "We're actively thinking about ways to help them improve their processes."
If you're on one of the secret government watch lists, the feds say you have to find the agency that nominated you to the list, and appeal through that agency's ombudsman, privacy officer or Inspector General. The Terrorist Screening Center maintains the master "unified terrorist watch list" (which you can't see), but says it is only the keeper, not the creator, of the list. Nevertheless, in 2005 the center removed 31 entries, based on complaints forwarded to it by watch-list-using agencies, according to a recent Congressional report.
For foreigners having a tough time getting a visa, such as Abbas Kiarostami, an Iranian director widely considered to be the world's greatest living filmmaker ... good luck. Redress rules do not apply.
