Where will the TSA go next?

chris6387

chris6387

New Member
Oh No! Look Who's In the Airport

It's YOU! Or, it could be you soon. The Transportation Security Administration is testing a new type of X-ray scanner that virtually strips away your clothing so the security screeners can determine at a glance if you're carrying a concealed weapon, reports The Associated Press. There's just one glitch. The view the screener gets is rather revealing, shall we say.

The problem is that this machine works too well. To demonstrate that, the very brave Susan Hallowell, director of the TSA security laboratory, threw her modesty out the window and stepped into the special X-ray booth so the world could see the results. "It does basically make you look fat and , but you see all this stuff," Hallowell admitted to AP. The "stuff" is the fake and gun she was carrying under her clothing. The TSA wants to modify the machines so there is an electronic fig leaf that would make sensitive body parts fuzzy or even distort the image of the body so it's not quite so graphic. Randal Null, the agency's chief technology officer, told AP another option would be to restrict the screener to a booth so no passing peepers can see the image.

Pilot programs will be launched at several airports this year. The machine has already been tested with volunteers at Orlando International Airport, but the results were mixed. Some were uncomfortable with the technology, but other travelers said it was far nicer than having a screener pat them down. At least one person thinks we, the public, won't like this one bit. "The public is willing to accept a certain amount of scrutiny at the airport, but there are clearly limits to the degree of invasion that is acceptable," David Sobel, general counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, told AP. "It's hard to understand why something this invasive is necessary."


Article from: http://home.netscape.com/
 
I have no problem with it, I mean they gotta protect some how (rather that than the damn plane I am flying in heading to the ground).
 
Oh geez come on - you would not care that these people would be seeing you with your gear off at their command. Flying has become much safer since 9/11 not because we have air marshals on some flight, not because the TSA cause us all headaches and waste our time BUT because passengers have united and will take care of anyone who misbehaves.
 
I agree with Iain; I strongly support strict security measures. However, this is too far, and a violation to one's personal privacy. The current system of passenger screening generally works fine, although there are some problems with it. I don't think this particular machine will get enough support though.
 
Yes I guess you're right Ian. Passengers have united but you're always going to have some ass thats part of terrorist network that will always be trying to terorzie you, not mucn uniting there. The point of Air Marshalls in my opinion is to make passengers think there safe not to make them safe...
 
[ QUOTE ]
Flying has become much safer since 9/11 not because we have air marshals on some flight, not because the TSA cause us all headaches and waste our time BUT because passengers have united and will take care of anyone who misbehaves.

[/ QUOTE ]

I owe you a steak dinner and an adult beverage of your choice.
 
Anyone remember the SNL skit where they kept making the chick go through the scanner with less and less clothes?..


This seems just like that...
 
I have to agree that this crosses the line!!

I'm all for security... but when it comes to personal privacy - people have enough problems with just having to deal with the wanding and "pat down" portions of dealing with security personnel...

think about it some... the screeners they have our there now are not the best and brightest folks that they brought on at the beginning of the whole "govt/TSA" deal...

could you imagine if you have one screener that, unknowing to you, somehow is able to take those images and put them all over the net??? if you have a computer - it can be done!

i also tend to wonder if using such security measures - would the TSA then eliminate the pat down and other types of searches such as taking your shoes off?? i doubt it! it's just one more security pit you have to deal with!!

i could just see the public go ape-sh*t about privacy issues with this for years to come!! and if something were to go wrong, could you do anything about it? not really - cuz it's gov't raised! hahaha

heck - if the govt can do this, what will be next? the least they'll have to do is get some sort of screening to hide from the neck down to the knees, yet have an infrared or something that would pinpoint certain "hotspots" - like in "total recall"... didn't they go down to the skeleton there? that might be better, so at least you don't see body parts - cuz everyone pretty much has the same bone structure!!

just some thoughts! :-)
 
Besides the obvious privacy problems, don't many x-rays over time increase your risk for cancer? I wouldn't want to be a constant traveler.
 
Your tax dollars at work

The TSA is nuts.

In SLC, they've set their magnatometers so low that my pen, shoelace holes and belt buckle set off the metal detector.

Of course I get the "big scan" and an admonishment from them about not putting my pen, my belt buckle and removing my shoe before going through the metal detector.

This is honestly the first problem I've had in the US in the past 3 months but supposedly, I'm the butthole for not stripping down to my underwear before stepping through the metal detector in SLC.

"Oh, we turn up the sensitivity in SLC because we want to be safe".

Drat! Foiled again! I could have foiled safety with a belt buckle, pen and shoes!

I think they need to focus on consistency because if I was a business traveler, I'd be looking heavily at "Netjets" and other fractional ownership programs if I had to deal with that on a daily basis.
 
Re: Your tax dollars at work

[ QUOTE ]


Drat! Foiled again! I could have foiled safety with a belt buckle, pen and shoes!



[/ QUOTE ]

All you need is one MacGyver and you have a home made pistol from those simple materials
grin.gif


TSA TSA.. How useless are you?
 
Re: Your tax dollars at work

[ QUOTE ]
All you need is one MacGyver and you have a home made pistol from those simple materials
grin.gif


TSA TSA.. How useless are you?

[/ QUOTE ]

That's more or less what you get when you throw money and political power at a problem and never ask the true users of the system for their input.

I'm sure my passengers were very relieved that I got yelled at for keeping my pen in my pocket and had a metal belt buckle that set off the 'specially calibrated' metal detectors in SLC!

Keepin' America Saaaaaafe!
smile.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
like in "total recall"...

[/ QUOTE ]

Total Recall.......Get your ass to Mars!
 
I was watching the NBC Nightly News last night and they did a report about people getting things stolen from their luggage when TSA searches the bags. Some 6700 complaints were filed against TSA. Naturally, they blame it on the airline baggage handlers. And of course, the airlines blame the TSA.

Here's a link to the full story: New airline travel complaint: theft
 
I'm going to be unpopular here and say that we possibly don't know how good a job the TSA is doing because if they do their job well, then there won't be any headlines. I take issue with a lot of things that the TSA does, but I think that they are far from being useless. The most striking affirmation of TSA is that there have not been any further hijackings.

This is similar to the criticism of the Patriot Act. I heard Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice say on the radio a couple of weeks ago that the Patriot Act had led to the prevention of a large number of terrorist acts (I can't remember the exact figure that he cited).

The bottom line is that, while I don't advocate trading freedom for security, in the new world that resulted from 9-11 we have to find a new balance between the two.

And keep in my that dealing with TSA is on an entirely voluntary basis. If you don't want to deal with them, you simply don't have to go to a FAR 121 airport. Even as pilots, we have the option of working for a fractional or corporate flight department where we don't have to go through security.

BTW, I can get through security by removing only my shoes, cell phone and car keys. I keep my pens, calculator, and change in pockets and get through with no problem (even with a metal rod implanted in my back from spinal surgery several years ago). I do plan to get a pair of boots or slip-on shoes to minimize the hassle.
 
Arnt pilots subject to the same screening processing by TSA as the general public (ie: Walking through the metal detectors, and baggage x-ray screening)? Which I do find a little ironic after all if they are trying to stop people from bringing a weapon on the plane and using that weapon to gain access to the cockpit, the pilot already has access to the cockpit and some now have access to a firearm. If a pilot was hell bent on killing himself he sure doesnt need a weapon anyways, hes flying one with thousands of tons of jet fuel behind him, not to mention arnt they required to be cleared by TSA before they are hired? I dont see security personal screening each other... go figure...

As for the new x-ray, that device has been around for several years even pre 9-11 but I still find it intrusive, Id rather be pat down or wanded then have my privacy invaded, after all this is equal to a strip search of every person which I'm sure could invite some constitutional lawsuits under the 4th admendment.

Ryan
 
[ QUOTE ]
The bottom line is that, while I don't advocate trading freedom for security, in the new world that resulted from 9-11 we have to find a new balance between the two.

[/ QUOTE ]
I'd argue that the "world" is pretty much the same as it was prior to 9-11 regarding terrorism. The biggest difference is that it happened here and not "over there".

The TSA may me doing some good as dave mentioned, but there are limits and individual rights to privacy.
 
[ QUOTE ]
The most striking affirmation of TSA is that there have not been any further hijackings.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dave, no offense, but that's like saying "because I put a rock next to my mailbox (in rural Nebraska) that rock protects me from tiger attacks."

There haven't been any hijackings because non have been attempted.

The function that the TSA serves is valid. The problem is the TSA is trying to sell everyone that they, and that function is the only place, way that bad guys can strike and thus they are the only ones who can detect and stop unlawful activity. And, that, is simply *not* the case.

NONE OF THE HIJACKERS on 9/11 "snuck" through security or smuggled banned items on baord. At the time "box cutters" were allowed to be carried on board. They all passed through security with no trouble. If anything the airlines themselves didn't do their job as these guys were on watchlists yet they were still sold tickets and boarded - although the ultimate failure was the FBI, CIA, Dept. Of Immigrations, etc. for not getting these guys sooner.

[ QUOTE ]
This is similar to the criticism of the Patriot Act.

[/ QUOTE ]

Same thing. The Patriot Act - which really should be called the Heir Bush Act - is nothing but a blatent and unapologetic power grab by the administration. We knew of, and monitored the 9/11 guys WITHOUT the "patriot act" but no one took them seriously and failed to do their jobs thus allowing these bozos to do what they did. As a citizen of a free country you should be outraged and appaled by the Patriot Act - not defending it.
 
The hijackers cleared security with items that were absolutely legal to carry, but I really think the primary reason there hasn't been another hijacking isn't because the TSA catches terrorists, which they do not -- plus if they did there isn't a darned thing they can do about it beyond calling airport security to apprehend the terrorist.

Images of half-eaten donuts and spilled coffee after the alert is a little amusing!
smile.gif


In my humble opinion, if terrorists did have illegal weapons, it would be more like the 'shooting gallery' scene from "The Matrix" rather than the "Book 'em Dano" situation from Hawaii Five-O.

The reason there hasn't been another 9/11-style terrorist event is the fact that our society understands that the rules about dealing with hijackers have changed. If the passengers don't immediately kill the hijackers, they will be killed themselves.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top