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Transportation Worker Identification Credential: Card Reader Pilot Results Are Unreliable; Security Benefits Should Be Reassessed

GAO-13-695T Published: Jun 18, 2013. Publicly Released: Jun 18, 2013.
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Highlights

What GAO Found

Why GAO Did This Study

This testimony discusses GAO's recent work examining the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program. Ports, waterways, and vessels handle billions of dollars in cargo annually, and an attack on our nation's maritime transportation system could have serious consequences. Maritime workers, including longshoremen, mechanics, truck drivers, and merchant mariners, access secure areas of the nation's estimated 16,400 maritime-related transportation facilities and vessels, such as cargo container and cruise ship terminals, each day while performing their jobs.

For more information, contact Steve Lord at (202) 512-4379 or lords@gao.gov.

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Topics

Access controlBiometric identificationData collectionElectronic equipmentEvaluation methodsFacility securityIdentification cardsMaritime securityReporting requirementsSecure areasTestingVoluntary complianceAuthenticationData integrityIdentity verificationMilitary vesselsSecurity assessmentsTransportation safetyTransportation workersMarine transportation