Flying While Muslim and the Four SSSS on a Boarding Pass!

Muslims traveling on flights to and from the US and European airports are often subject to secondary screening and the appearance of SSSS on their boarding passes. Now, let me be a little more precise on the SSSS imprint and how it functions for Muslim travelers.

It is not an error of four extra S letters since these are the airlines and DHS code for individuals to face the gauntlet of security apparatus, profiling at the airport, total public embarrassment at the counter, the boarding gate, not to mention total invasion of privacy.

I am writing this short piece because a few days ago news broke of a Swiss hacker known as maia arson crimew managed to download the US’ Government No Fly list by accessing CommuteAir servers that had not been properly secured. For Muslim American travelers, who have had first hand encounter with post 9/11 travel restrictions, including not being allowed to board flights back to the US, the breaking news of 1.5 million names comes as an affirmation of their collective experiences than a surprise.

How did the No Fly list or extra security monitoring occurs is an important question to explore?