The Problems with TWIC

Earlier I blogged on the GAO report on TWIC which was an extensive documentation of the issues they found with the entire program.  Then there is this article Investigators Used Falsely Obtained and Fake TWIC Cards to Access Portsthat provides some details on how that GAO report was received by Congress and individual elected officials.

 

Here's some additional thoughts on the Transportation Worker Identification Card (TWIC):

 

• TWIC is really the closest thing we have to a national identification card.  It is the only one I know of that crosses state and local boundaries.  Granted it has a single purpose, transportation security, but I think it is a forerunner of what is to come "long term" because I believe, even with state's rights issues there will be a proven need for a national ID Card.  This might not happen in my life time, but it is coming.
• Handling the TWIC function off to a private contractor meant that profit was the driver versus quality.  Fixing the problems became segmented due to the contract language that said what the contractor would do or not do.  This is not from any inside knowledge of TWIC, just from institutional awareness of the complex issues that arise when you cross into the public-private functioning of government.
• In reality the TWIC credential does not mean that much.  Convicted felons who can't vote, but can move sensitive cargo into "restricted areas" I mean, "Really!"
• The initial issue of TWICs will have expired before TWIC readers are fielded in the nation.  If all goes well, there will be a federal ruling by the end of the year, a public comment period that will no doubt be contentious and then adoption with another time period of implementation.  I'm guessing it will be 2014 or 2015 at the earliest before TWIC readers will be in place at all ports.
• The ruggedness of the TWIC cards needs to be fixed, or some form of plastic carry mechanism used to protect the cards from damage.  Even cards in pristine condition have been found to not have the bio function working.
• Some might argue that the flash pass checking of TWIC at entry control points is the equivalent of the airport security line.  It looks like security, but is it?

All I do know for sure is that the battle over TWIC has just begun.  Throwing more money after bad money is a USA tradition and one government is known for.  I'm not advocating for pulling the plug on TWIC, but it needs some vast improvements for us to realize the promise that it once held for security of our nation's transportation infrastructure.