Should You Show Your ID to Anyone Who Appears ‘Official” at the Airport?

I was reading a blog by Edward Hasbrouck The Practical Nomad titled ‘Unanswered Questions at Dulles Airport’ who brought this question to light for me (the article is very interesting!). With the way the world is today, and the fear of terrorist attacks being forced upon us on a daily basis, it is not, and probably would not, be uncommon for TSA staff to randomly ask to see a persons ID throughout an airport, not just at the ticketing counter or security check. But how do we know that the person is TSA staff (or an authorized TSA agent) and not someone dressed as TSA staff attempting a little bit of identity theft.

Edward Hasbrouck decided to question those asking for his boarding pass and ID when they did not appear to be TSA staff:

Source
“So when one of a group of people between the check-in counter and the TSA checkpoint -- who appeared to be neither TSA nor airline employees -- said to me, "I need to see your boarding pass and ID", I took the time to ask him, "Why? Who are you?"

Ultimately, Mr. Hasbrouck determined that the badges these ‘officials’ were wearing said Airserv, not TSA or Police etc. Ultimately, Mr. Hasbrouck was detained, questioned by police, had all of his things searched simply because he did not recognize the identification of those asking and (I’m guessing) felt uncomfortable showing his boarding pass and ID to people that may not have been authorized to view a passengers ID.

You would think that we, as the traveling public traveling in the U.S., could question those asking to see our ID. After all, we would like to protect ourselves just as much as (we hope) the government wants to protect us.

So I found myself wondering if I would just blindly show my ID to anyone that looked official, or would I have the courage to ask further questions if I felt uncomfortable about the identity of the person. Right now I don’t know, I’m going to have to think about it, but I am curious if any one out there in 'ATS land' would have the courage to question an apparent authority figure if you had some suspicion that the person may not be who he appears to be?

Hi DCFusion/

So I found myself wondering if I would just blindly show my ID to anyone that looked official, or would I have the courage to ask further questions if I felt uncomfortable about the identity of the person.
Right now I don’t know, I’m going to have to think about it, but I am curious if any one out there in 'ATS land' would have the courage to question an apparent authority figure if you had some suspicion that the person may not be who he appears to be?

The first thing that would come to mind if I was asked, would be to show them.
I guess it depends on what they wanted, or why you were being asked for ID in the first place.
If I was suspicious, then definately, I would not hesitate to question them......umm, well, as long as there were more people present, of-course!

helen

This is a good point. It might not matter all that much for regular ids, after all, what are they going ot do with your name (though of course they could do some stuff). But its really a problem with passports that have biometric information and that broadcast it with RFIDs when scanned with RFID readers. Whats to stop a terrorist from getting one of those stupid TSA shirts with the cloth sewn on 'badges', scanning a couple hundred ids, and then making copies of the them with even the RFID information in them?

Absolutely nothing is stopping them apparently.

I don't know what the problem is. It's not like they're asking to inspect your credit card or something. I show my ID to cash checks and buy alcohol and that's not a big deal. Why would this be? Sounds like someone making a big stink over nothing, in my opinion. However, I don't have a passport so don't know much about that. I can see where Nygdan's point would be of concern.

You also have to wonder in what context this took place. If some stranger walked up to me without a uniform in the middle of the airport, then I'd be suspicious. But if it was as I was waiting in line to board the plane, that's a different matter and would not hesitate to show my ID.

Sometimes there are people who will cause a big scene just so they can make a point and say "Hey, look what happened to me! I questioned them and they arrested me!" When in reality they were acting in a disruptive way, being abusive, or even breaking the law.

There is a book called "Triplanetary Patrol", its sci-fi, in it, the 'cops' of the galaxy have a serious problem, demonstrating that they are cops. An advanced alien race creates a badge, a golden meteor, that, when a person touches it, an 'un-utterable' syllable is produced within them, and they know that this person is a member of the patrol.
Obviously, nothing like that can be made in the here and now, but it IS interesting that it was a big aspect of the book (a series in fact), how to distinguish the real cops from frauds.

Hell yeah I would show my ID to anyone with a badge or TSA uniform, I'm brown. But I also trust my judgement and if I find the person to be suspicious or don't feel they are the real deal, I reserve the right to act like a fool and make a fuss, until I get a supervisor or superior. After that.. I would comply.

Hell yeah I would show my ID to anyone with a badge or TSA uniform, I'm brown.

In duplicate while wearing a GOP lapel pin?!