[1] A 2007 report by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General stated that the TSDB, as the "U.S. Government's consolidated terrorist watchlist" contained "basic biographical information on known or appropriately suspected domestic and international terrorists" and that "the underlying derogatory information on individuals nominated for inclusion in the TSDB must demonstrate a reasonable suspicion of ties to terrorism.
[1] In 2019, the government acknowledged that it shared its list with 1,441 non-governmental entities that were "in some way connected to the criminal justice system" such as campus police, hospital security staff, and private detention facilities; the admission alarmed some civil libertarian groups.
[9] The purpose of the TSDB is to promote information-gathering and information sharing different agencies, and to flag individuals of interest for closer scrutiny when interacting with investigators or others, such as border agents or state police.
[1] Although the government uses TSDB as both an investigative database and an "early warning" tool, inclusion on the list does not invariably prevent attacks or threats.
[11] In a 2008 hearing before the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection, the principal deputy director of the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center testified that the TSDB was updated daily and contained approximately 1 million records relating to 400,000 individuals, of whom 3% are U.S. persons (i.e., U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents).
[13] The Justice Department's Office of Inspector General has criticized the list for frequent errors and slow response to complaints.
[16] In 2019, in a case brought by a group of Muslim Americans against the government Judge Anthony Trenga of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that "the TSDB fails to provide constitutionally sufficient procedural due process, and thereby also violates the Administrative Procedures Act."