Why you shouldn’t be concerned about airport x-rays and patdowns

by Grant Martin on

There’s a serious backlash to the TSA’s recent airport security policies raging through the media this month, as more and more of the flying public learn what the real meaning of “until resistance is felt” is when security officers are feeling up unsuspecting passengers’ legs.

The new policies, covered extensively here at Gadling and at every other travel and news outlet across the web are the latest version of the Department of Homeland Security’s measures to prevent unwanted people and goods from entering the world’s airspace. One of the technologies has to do with new imaging methods that can see through your clothing, potentially to embarrassing detail. The other has to do with pat-down procedures in case you’re selected for advanced screening.

In both cases, privacy is the main issue. Concerned passengers don’t want to be subject to some random security officer getting an all-too-close look or feel at their private places, and the new polices now in force make that privacy seem thinner than ever.

As word of the new initiatives and potential implications grows, so has the online calamity. A group of activists recently stripped down and protested the changes at a German airport. Over the weekend, a Californian would-be-passenger flipped out and made national news while he recorded his angry conversation with the TSA. Reddit and a number of social medias have also jumped on the bandwagon by either virally or intentionally curating a river of stories, anger and discussion about just what’s going wrong.

The fact of the matter is, however, that these security measures are not as egregious as it seems. From deep within the trenches of everyday travel, I as the Editor of Gadling can tell you first hand: it’s just not that bad.In the past month I’ve been through dozens of airports from Mumbai to Bogota to Miami to Delhi. Of the hundred times that I’ve been through airport security, I’ve been scanned with the magnetic wand a dozen times, through the backscatter detector twice and patted down a handful of times.

Each time, I did my duty: spread my legs, raised my arms, pulled out my keys or turned in circles. And each time, the security officer did his: checked my pockets, felt my thighs and patted my back. After that? I went on my way and the officer moved onto the next person. No laughs, no discussion, no disrespect or question.

It’s true. The new security initiatives do give unscrupulous individuals the ability to abuse their power and see something that would make you feel uncomfortable. But these are the bad apples in a very very large bushel, and most are just doing their jobs and want you to be on your way. Just like someone can peek into your living room window in the middle of the night or a corporation can rifle through your Facebook account, invasions of privacy can and will happen — it’s a fact of life in today’s high frequency world.

So here’s some food for thought next time you’re passing through airport security. Most of you won’t encounter a backscatter or millimeter wave scanner at the checkpoint. They’ve only been installed at select, high-traffic airports around the country. Chances are, you’ll go through the normal magnetometer and carry on with your normal flight.

If you are subjected to advanced screening, there is no promise that you won’t absorb a few roentgens of radiation or that your personal privacy won’t be encroached upon. But those risks are minimal, infrequent, and should not sway the seasoned traveler. For now, your privacy concerns should lie beyond this pop-science scare — and if, in the slight probability that something isn’t ideal for the general public’s health, you can trust Reddit users and Congressional watchdogs to raise the real red flag. Until then, keep flying.

Full-body scanner / pat-down controversy gets the cartoon treatment

by Leigh Caldwell on

Taiwan’s Next Media Animation has turned the spreading controversy over airport full-body scanners and pat-downs into a cartoon.

The animation house releases news videos each day on YouTube and provides English translations for some of the videos.

The animation summarizes – and mocks – the recent incidents in the United States when air passengers have refused full-body scans and pat-downs – the Travel Security Administration’s recently released enhanced security measures.

Among the scenes in the video:

  • A cross-dressing male passenger fights off a TSA agent’s advances and reveals undergarments with explosives and a tag reading “Osama’s Secret”
  • Protestors wave signs that read “Don’t Touch My Junk”
  • The name of the full-body scanner manufacturer is “RapeScan Systems.”
  • Naked passengers take over a plane on Nov. 24, which protestors have deemed National Opt-Out Day.
  • A female passenger requests that her pat-down be done in private, and is taken to a room with a king-size bed and a seductively dancing TSA agent.

100 controversial whole body imaging photos revealed

by Scott Carmichael on

Gadget blog Gizmodo.com has obtained access to 100 images captured by a whole body imaging machine that was installed at a Florida courthouse. We covered the incident back in August, but a Freedom of Information Act request has finally produced the actual photos.

When these machines were installed, we were all told that none of them would actually store photos. As images started leaking out, it became obvious that these claims were of course false. In the video clip created by Gizmodo, you see people occupying the scanner, along with his or her body scan.

There is some good news – as the images clearly show that they don’t reveal all that much. People hoping to see clear images of genitalia will be quite disappointed.

Still, it is quite alarming that the images were stored in the first place – though we do need to point out that this particular scanner was not operated by the TSA – it is a millimeter wave scanner, operated by the U.S. Marshals service. Even though the technology and operation is slightly different from the airport machines, the resulting images are very similar.

Of course it also means that despite all the reassurances, the machines are capable of storing photos, and I am confident that it is just a matter of time till an airport is involved in a similar privacy incident.

What do you think? Do these photos make you more or less afraid to use the whole body scanning machines?

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[Image from Gizmodo.com]
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German body scanner protesters remove clothes at airport

by Laurel Miller on

In Germany, a “fleshmob” of semi-naked activists from the Pirate Party staged a body scanner protest at the Berlin-Tegel Airport, reports Discover magazine. German authorities plan to begin using “Nacktscanners,” or AIT (Advanced Imaging Technology), which uses high frequency radio waves to produce images of a passenger’s naked body, across the country within the next two years.

Here and elsewhere abroad, the TSA and its international partners are increasingly employing body scanners as an airport security measure, so items like explosives, weapons, or drugs can be detected beneath a passenger’s clothing. The use of the scanners has become a subject of much public controversy, ever since the would-be “underwear bomber” was thwarted at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport on Dec. 25 of last year. Many passengers feel that the use of full-body scanners is a violation of their privacy.

Wired states that the German protesters scrawled comments such as, “Be a good citizen–drop your pants,” and “prosthetic [with arrow pointing to the wearer’s leg],” on their bodies. One flesh-toned-clothed woman bore a sign reading, “pixelated,” referring to the option modest passengers have to request a scanner be programmed to produce a blurred image of their body.

For more information on your rights as an air traveler, Reddit has created Fly with Dignity, a “site-based initiative to inform the public.” Want to personally protest body scanners? National Opt-Out Day is November 24th.

Is airport security a waste of time? Ten Gadling readers’ shocking answers

by Annie Scott on

The other day on the Gadling Facebook page, we asked what some might consider a loaded question:

“Do you think airport security is important or a waste of time? Why?”

We got a variety of responses both in the pro and con camps, and plenty of rants about how foolish airport security has perhaps become. Here are the top ten comments — a great litmus test of how airport security and the TSA is perceived by regular travelers.

1. “Huge waste of time. I think a lot of pilots agree on this. Bottom line: ineffective measures that have morphed into mindless procedures performed by (mostly) moronic TSA agents that yield no increased security and impact travel time. Even more, recently airlines issued statements that security regulations for flying into the US are expensive and unnecessary.” — Raul

2. “Have flown twice to Asia in the last few months … inconsistencies galore … have a friend that always carries this tiny box cutter in her purse … she forgot about it and now realized she has flown several times with it not being discovered … but they have taken her bottled water that she purchased in the airport.” — Kathleen3. “What Raul said. I was just at LAS flying back to NY and I forgot to take my liquids out. They didn’t even mention it and let me go right through. Also, plenty of plastic (non-metal detecting items) can be used as tools or weapons. Pathetic. Israel’s method of profiling is much more efficient.” … “Pilots shouldn’t have to go through the security the rest of us do — if they are compromised they can take the damn plane down! They don’t need explosives or anything else to do that.” — Alyson

4. “Different airports have different requirements or strictures. If it’s not allowed at one airport, it shouldn’t be allowed at ANY of them.” … “Airlines don’t like security when it impacts their bottom line, but they’ll be the first to admit that having a plane go down due to an unchecked bomb hurts their bottom line even more.” — Jennifer

5. “It is important but they need to seriously streamline it and take a page out of the European countries airport security systems.” — Lori

6. “After a pat down I always have to ask ‘Should I tip you?‘” — Rob

7. “It’s called security theatre.” — George

8. “Honestly, I think the whole thing is designed to keep the sheeple calm because there really is nothing ‘they’ can do to keep us safe. If terrorists want to take down a plane or use it to take down buildings (again? puh-lease, that is so 2001, the terrorists are up to bigger and better things) they will. with these ridiculous so called security measures, the terrorists have won — we have changed our way of life because of them.” — Alyson (again)

9. “I’ve never worked out why 75 year old ladies need to take their shoes off when they’re only flying internally within the UK. The issue is not whether security is important, it’s whether security checks are valid and efficacious. I don’t believe they are. We should be profiling, rather than searching laptops and shoes. The terrorists will always move on. They must be clutching at straws if they’re putting 300mg of HE into toner cartridges on cargo planes; or perhaps the ‘terrorist’ was simply a nut-case.” — Stewart

10. “Security is important. It needs to be beefed up, tho. I was a flight attendant for 42 years with 2 airlines. I remember when we didn’t need it. Now, we need it.” — Vicki

Got additional comments? Want to join in the conversation? Visit Gadling on Facebook.

[Photo by redjar via Flickr.]