26 Miles

The TSA Wants You Naked

// July 11th, 2008 // Security & Privacy

Rivaling only the IRS in the public’s collective derision, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) now has a new gadget through which to extend their reign of Orwellian coercion on we, the throngs of presumed-terrorists boarding U.S. flights every day.

The new “millimeter wave scanners” rolling out in some U.S. airports — and used as part of the “secondary screening” on selected passengers — photograph the human body through the clothing with a high-degree of photo-realistic accuracy.

From the article:

“These machines, which show detailed images of a person’s naked body, are equivalent to a ‘virtual strip search,’ ” says the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). “The image resolution … is high so the picture of the body presented to screeners is detailed enough to show genitalia.”

…and…

Barry Steinhardt of the American Civil Liberties Union marvels at the government’s double standard: “If Playboy published them, there would be politicians out there saying they’re pornographic.”

The TSA has also begun handing out cracker-jack-box badges to it’s workforce and outfitting them in blue, police-looking uniforms. Real law enforcement officers are none to happy being cast in the same lot with the TSA workers.

Now … they want to see us naked. Are we ready yet to say enough is enough, or will we, as we have since 9/11, simply march like lemmings through the nudie-portal and continue to let the TSA and their policies run amok, awash in excessive power and limited, ineffective oversight?

The TSA itself likely represents the greatest threat to aviation safety and the long-term economic viability of the airline industry. In so poorly executing their mission, they create a very thin illusion of security when in fact it could be argued the aviation safety record of the last 7 years was achieved in spite of them, rather than because of them.

A serious, thoughtful discussion needs to occur about how best to understand and guard against whatever the real threat to airline safety is, and shape new policies and, if necessary, organizations around the outcomes of that discussion. The TSA was hastily conceived during a period of fear and sorrow and since inception the divergence between real threats and their ill-conceived policies has only grown. 5 ounces of shampoo and a butter knife do not a terrorist make. Folks, It’s time to start over with this one.