A federal air marshal whistleblower revealed that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Federal Air Marshals, through private contractors, are allegedly using geolocation data to monitor Americans’ social media and flight reservations without oversight.
This violation, detailed in a letter from the Air Marshal National Council, claims the TSA is circumventing Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), which governs transportation security.
This violation of privacy rights by the TSA, as revealed in an exclusive piece by Breanna Morello, raises serious questions about privacy infringement and monitoring practices. The claims made by the whistleblower warrant thorough examination.
EXCLUSIVE
TSA hires private company to circumvent Americans’ privacy rights, according to new Federal Air Marshal whistleblower.
The whistleblower contends that the TSA, utilizing contractors, has been using geolocation and surveillance on Americans’ social media and travel bookings to… pic.twitter.com/VFFYf57zAX
— Breanna Morello (@BreannaMorello) June 5, 2025
According to the whistleblower, the TSA employed private contractors to sidestep Title 49, leveraging social media to track people who attended President Trump’s rally at the Ellipse on January 6, 2021, or who were in Washington, D.C. at that time.
Contractors then used flight reservation data to match identities, revoking TSA Pre-Check eligibility and placing individuals on the Quiet Skies and Domestic Terrorist watch lists without investigation.
The Air Marshal National Council’s letter states,
“TSA’s Intelligence and Analysis division is, by law and policy, not allowed to use Americans’ social media content as the sole basis for placing someone on a watch list. Despite this, TSA continues to use contractors for real-time social media monitoring to this day.”
Additionally, the TSA allegedly misuses the EVADE (Enhanced Video Analysis of Dust Exposures) program, which the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) originally developed to analyze workplace dust exposure.
The program, intended for occupational health, now reportedly monitors Americans without proper vetting.
The letter details a case where officials labeled the wife of a Federal Air Marshal a domestic terrorist and surveilled her for over two years without evidence, highlighting the severity of these privacy violations.
“In one case, the wife of a Federal Air Marshal was labeled as a domestic terrorist and surveilled for over two years without any investigation or evidence of wrongdoing.”
The implications of these actions are profound. For instance, they erode trust in federal agencies and raise questions about the legality of surveillance practices.
Meanwhile, the use of private contractors to bypass regulatory oversight suggests a deliberate strategy to circumvent privacy protections. Therefore, it fuels debates over government overreach and the balance between security and civil liberties.
In turn, this controversy challenges the TSA’s credibility and the integrity of its operations.
Access the full letter and read Breanna Morello’s exclusive story on the Independent Newsroom.
