Like someone else said in a different post yesterday: anything beyond checking that I don't have weapons or some other danger to the flight is completely unnecessary. There is no reason that the TSA needs to verify identity for flights.
this post was submitted on 02 Dec 2025
98 points (94.5% liked)
News
33354 readers
3153 users here now
Welcome to the News community!
Rules:
1. Be civil
Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.
2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.
Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.
3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.
Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.
4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.
Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.
5. Only recent news is allowed.
Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.
6. All posts must be news articles.
No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.
7. No duplicate posts.
If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.
8. Misinformation is prohibited.
Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.
9. No link shorteners.
The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.
10. Don't copy entire article in your post body
For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Technically its for the surveillance system they set up without telling anybody on top of the surveillance systems already in place that you dont know about on top of the NSA
Identity is one of those "danger to the flight" things. Like the 9/11 hijackers didn't bring any weapons on board, they just used force and exploited the compliance of the crew to take control. So if they flag you as a known terrorist, they stop you getting on the plane.
In theory. In practice I don't think the TSA has stopped a single attempt of terrorism, but I also don't think we've had any attempts since 9/11. Whether that's due to the existence of the TSA is impossible to say.
They may have just used force to take the planes, but regulations regarding cockpit security were completely revolutionized after 9/11. That same tactic should not work today. Hell, even having a weapon doesn't really make a hijacking more likely.
The problem was insecure cockpits, not that the authorities didn't know the identities of the people onboard. There is no actual proven security reason for the TSA collecting this information.
There is no actual proven security reason for the TSA collecting this information.
That doesn't sound right. If there's a list of wanted or potentially dangerous terrorists or criminals, and I provide ID showing that I am not one of those people, isn't that a security reason for showing ID?
Who makes that list? The same group of people labeling antifa as terrorists? If a person has no weapons and still is "too dangerous" to be on a plane, why are they not in jail?
ID isn't making anything more secure in the context of the airport, it's just surveillance and another way to limit/punish people extrajudicially.
It has nothing to do with security, everything to do with Big Brotherhood. They love having a database of everyone's travels.
It feels like they’ve been saying the REAL ID would be required for years, and keep pushing it back. Now they’re like, “We’re so serious you guys. It’s for national security. No bad actor will pay $45.”
Its just like the TSA precheck and now the third party companies like Clear offering to skip/use minimally invasive security screenings for a small fee.
Yeah. When someone told me, “If you agree to pay a fee, for three years they won’t give you a patdown every time you fly because you won’t have to use the scanner that thinks fat people are smugglers, and you won’t have to take your shoes off” my first thought was “fuck yes” and my second thought was “isn’t that the definition of racketeering?”
(Also my very first time using TSA Precheck I was flagged for “random screening” and TSA got one last revenge patdown in. 🙄)
“Brown people don’t have money HEH GOTTEM”
The law was passed in 2005 and so many states kept complaining. And frankly, those states are getting punished.
Every state that has their shit together has been Real ID compliant for at least a decade.
Article also says a passport is fine.
Because a passport is registered with the state department and is by nature more "real" than a real ID
Thank you, I was about to say...
Beginning Feb. 1, travelers 18 and older flying domestically without a REAL ID and who don’t have another accepted form of ID on them, such as a passport, will pay the non-refundable fee to verify their identity through TSA’s alternative “Confirm.ID” system.
Current list of acceptable IDs:
-
REAL ID-compliant driver's licenses or other state photo identity cards issued by Department of Motor Vehicles (or equivalent)
- If you are not sure if your ID complies with REAL ID, check with your state department of motor vehicles.
- A temporary driver’s license is not an acceptable form of identification.
-
State-issued Enhanced Driver's License (EDL) or Enhanced ID (EID)
// “State-issued Enhanced Driver's Licenses and identification cards (EDL/EID) are designated as acceptable border-crossing documents by DHS under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative and are an acceptable alternative to a REAL ID”//
-
DHS trusted traveler cards (Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST)
-
U.S. Department of Defense ID, including IDs issued to dependents
-
Permanent resident card
-
Border crossing card
-
An acceptable photo ID issued by a federally recognized Tribal Nation/Indian Tribe, including Enhanced Tribal Cards (ETCs)
-
HSPD-12 PIV card
-
Foreign government-issued passport
-
Canadian provincial driver's license or Indian and Northern Affairs Canada card
-
Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC)
-
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Employment Authorization Card (I-766)
-
U.S. Merchant Mariner Credential
-
Veteran Health Identification Card (VHIC)
No passport, no real id. Good thing I don't go anywhere.
Canadian here, they make you get another ID? A Drivers license isn't enough?
The issue was that every state has different requirements for what's on a driver's license, photo ID, adult ID... Etc. this also includes Tribal Reservations.
The real ID Concept was to at least provide some organization nation wide.
I don't have a problem with it because my state was already Real ID compliant since a decade ago. And if you got an ID, you're good.
It's an upgraded id/license... with more paper work attached like a passport but without the perks of one...
Also you can have both an id and a driver's license...
A driver's license can be used as an id...
Make sense
I was drinking with a security guard who checks photo IDs before entering a club. And he was sharing all the crazy IDs he would get and have to understand. He's even gotten in trouble a few times for not letting people because he didn't believe their ID was valid, because the ID was "valid" where they came from.
THIS. Fun fact: Arizona IDs don't have (or didn't use to have) expiration dates or just say something stupid like "EXPIRES 01/01/2075". I can't blame anyone who isn't from Arizona for looking at an exp date 50 years in the future and believing it's fake.
that actually reminds me of a buddy of mine that moved to Canada from Arizona. He kept using his Arizona ID for awhile and whenever we'd go to a bar (we were in our early 20s at the time) he'd always get grief because of his Arizona Drivers License. they'd be all "this expires in 2060? this has to be fake" and every time he'd have to explain to them how Arizona drivers licenses work. got to the point where he just had to switch for an Ontario one just to save him the hassle. He even said if he was in another state in the US they'd still give him a hard time over it.
The us is really stupid for many reasons. 50+ patchwork systems for stuff everyone needs, like ID, is one of them. Using a driver's license for ID is another.
Sounds stupid but honestly I'm down with it. I worked at a bank checking IDs and I'm sure more than once I wrongly suspended accounts due to fake IDs because the US can't fucking get it together when it comes to what an ID even is.
real ID doesn't fix that
What makes the real ID real?
Ok. Still not going to get it.