Lawmaker Probes Shoddy TSA Website

A powerful congressional committee is investigating a Transportation Security Administration website that promised to help air travelers caught up in terrorist watch lists, after a Wired News blog revealed that the site was potentially exposing user's personal information to eavesdroppers.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform asked the TSA on Friday to turn over documents related to the Traveler Verification Identity Program website to determine how the site was designed, and whether government security and privacy regulations were violated.

That site was intended to allow domestic airline travelers whose names are similar to entries on the government's No Fly List and other watchlists to submit a complaint online, instead of calling TSA and requesting a form be sent to them by mail.

However, the site was full of misspellings and nonsensical directions, and asked travelers to provide sensitive personal information on an unencrypted page. Travelers in an airport using a wireless connection would be at risk of having their personal information stolen and used to commit identity fraud.

Additionally, the site, which was entered from a link on the TSA's main website, was hosted on the website of Desyne.com, a web design company that has a P.O. Box as its contact information -- adding to the impression it was not a legitimate government site.