Terrorist Screening Database

About Terrorist Screening Database

The Terrorist Screening Center has consolidated the names of all known or suspected terrorists within the Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB). The list consisted of 755,000 records (each designating a name or alias of an individual) as of May 2007, and has rapidly expanded over recent years. In June 2004, 158,000 records were in the database. As of late 2007, approximately 20,000 records per month are being added.

The TSDB is fed from two primary sources: international terrorist (IT) information from the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) and domestic terrorist (DT) information from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The TSDB has the names of all known and suspected terrorists in the twelve databases described in the April 2003 GAO report entitled, "Information Technology: Terrorist Watch Lists Should Be Consolidated to Promote Better Integration and Sharing." The twelve databases that are currently incorporated into TSC are:

The Justice Department's Office of Inspector General has criticized the list for frequent errors and slow response to complaints. An OIG audit found that 38% of a 105 record sample contained inaccuracies. The FBI has said it is redressing errors, and a 2006 review of the no-fly list reduced its size by half, from 71,872 records to 34,230 records.