WATCHLIST

Watching the Watchlist: Building an Effective Terrorist Screening System

The U.S. government maintains several lists of individuals for national security, law enforcement, and regulatory purposes. The primary consolidated list related to terrorism is the Terrorist Screening Dataset (TSDS). Reports also discuss the existence of a "kill list," which is a colloquial term for an internal government process involving targeted lethal force against specific high-value terrorist targets.

Watch Lists

Various U.S. agencies use "watch lists" to screen individuals for potential threats or compliance issues. These lists are consolidated into a master dataset, the TSDS (previously known as the Terrorist Screening Database, or TSDB), which is managed by the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center (TSC).

Key examples of these lists include:

Terrorist Screening Dataset (TSDS): The primary, consolidated list of known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) used by multiple federal agencies for screening purposes.
No-Fly List and Selectee List: Subsets of the TSDS maintained by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) that identify individuals who are prohibited from boarding commercial aircraft or who require enhanced screening.
Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List: Maintained by the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), this list includes individuals and companies subject to economic sanctions, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from dealing with them.
Denied Persons List and Entity List: Maintained by the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), these lists restrict certain individuals and entities from participating in the export of specific U.S. products and technology.
FBI Most Wanted and Fugitive Lists: Public lists of individuals wanted for serious crimes or who have fled from justice.

"Kill Lists" and the Disposition Matrix

The term "kill list" is a colloquial name for a confidential internal government process developed during the Obama administration, sometimes referred to as the Disposition Matrix.

This process involves an interagency review to identify, track, and, in some cases, target individuals deemed to pose an "imminent threat of violent attack" against the United States, primarily in overseas conflict zones.
The authority for targeted lethal action falls under the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) passed after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The program has faced significant legal scrutiny and civil liberties challenges regarding due process, particularly when it concerns U.S. citizens who were targeted without formal charges or judicial process.

The terrorist watchlist was created in response to the attacks on September 11, 2001; it is the U.S. government’s primary effort to consolidate and share information about individuals who may pose terrorist threats to the United States. It is an unclassified but sensitive dataset containing biographic (e.g., name, date of birth) and biometric (e.g., fingerprints, photographs) identifying information about individuals with a nexus to terrorism. The terrorist watchlist and its subsets, such as the No Fly List, are used by federal agencies to inform their screening and vetting decisions for various services or benefits, such as issuing a U.S. passport.

Individuals, including U.S. persons (i.e., U.S. citizens, nationals, or lawful permanent residents), may be nominated for inclusion in the terrorist watchlist if they are known or reasonably suspected to be engaged in terrorism or terrorist activities, or are associated with known or suspected terrorists, among other criteria. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), generally, the U.S. government’s policy is to neither confirm nor deny whether a person is on the terrorist watchlist due to security concerns. Therefore, U.S. persons are typically unaware of their status on the watchlist.

DOWNLOAD THE WATCHLIST: IMPROVING THE TRANSPARENCY, ACCURACY, EFFICIENCY, AND ACCOUNTABILITY OF THE TERRORIST SCREENING DATABASE

Watchlists originated from various government lists tracking individuals for different threats (like financial crime or terrorism) but became centralized and massive after 9/11, driven by the need for better coordination, leading to the U.S. government's single Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB) to consolidate names and flag potential terrorists for enhanced security, especially for travel and border protection. The system grew significantly, incorporating diverse data sources and expanding from dozens to millions of names, though it's faced criticism for its secrecy, potential for error, and impact on civil liberties.

Before 9/11, various U.S. agencies maintained separate watchlists for different concerns, including financial crimes (sanctions lists by OFAC) and suspected terrorists, but these lacked integration. The attacks highlighted a failure to share critical intelligence and track potential threats across agencies. In response, Homeland Security Presidential Directive 6 (HSPD-6) directed the consolidation of these scattered lists into one central database, the Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB).

The FBI's Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) was established to manage the TSDB, creating a unified point for sharing data with federal, state, and local agencies. Information comes from various sources, including tips from citizens, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies, using criteria like "reasonable suspicion".The list grew exponentially from around 120,000 names initially to millions, incorporating data from the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE) list.

The list is used for screening at airports (like flagging passengers for enhanced screening), border crossings, and even for employment or financial transactions. A subset of the TSDB, the No-Fly List specifically prevents individuals from boarding commercial flights. The system operates largely in secret with vague standards, leading to concerns about due process and errors. Tens of thousands of innocent people, including U.S. citizens, have been wrongly placed on lists, facing harassment, travel bans, and other severe consequences.