UK Immigration Officer Puts Wife on the No-Fly List

Posted by Big Gav in big brother

Bruce Schneier has another sorry tale about no-fly lists, a legacy of the phoney "war on terror" - UK Immigration Officer Puts Wife on the No-Fly List.

A UK immigration officer decided to get rid of his wife by putting her on the no-fly list, ensuring that she could not return to the UK from abroad. This worked for three years, until he put in for a promotion and -- during the routine background check -- someone investigated why his wife was on the no-fly list.

Okay, so he's an idiot. And a bastard. But the real piece of news here is how easy it is for a UK immigration officer to put someone on the no-fly list with absolutely no evidence that that person belongs there. And how little auditing is done on that list. Once someone is on, they're on for good.

That's simply no way to run a free country.

2 comments

SP says 4:28 AM

Reminds me of the story (I guess it was true - I read it on the internet) about the couple who paid off their credit card and got put on the list for unusual financial activity.

Big Gav says 7:39 AM

More likely members of organised crime than terrorists :-)