Chalk this up as a small victory in the war on common sense. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) confirmed today that it will remove some airport body scanners that produce a naked image of travelers by June. These are the large...
TSA Concedes Failure of Full Body Scanners
TSA’s Iraqi Information Minister, Blogger Bob, addressed the new video “making its way around the interwebs” about why full body scanners actually make us less safe. His words were telling. Let’s go through them, one sentence at a time....
How to Get Anything Past a TSA Full-Body Scanner
For years I have been preaching about the lack of critical thinking and common sense that characterized the Transportation Security Administration’s choice to roll out full-body scanners at airports nationwide. I have pointed out that the machines were never...
The TSA Shows Their Humane Side
I am usually very critical of the Transportation Security Administration and will continue to be critical as I observe the out-of-control agency wasting tax dollars. But I am also a fair person, and will give them praise when praise...
EU Bans Full Body Scanners While USA Embraces Them
The European Union banned a variant of full body scanners (used extensively in the U.S. by the Transportation Security Administration) this week at the airports of all 27 member states, “[I]n order not to risk jeopardizing citizens’ health and...
TSA SPOT Program Wastes Time and Money
The Transportation Security Administration is actively testing its new Israeli-style interrogation program at Boston’s Logan Airport. The new screening method is part of the TSA’s SPOT (Screening of Passengers by Observation Technique) initiative that began in 2001, encompasses the...
Bribed TSA Officer Conspires with Drug Smuggler at LAX…9 Times!
I wish I could say I am surprised, but I am not: a Transportation Security Administration Officer at Los Angeles International Airport was busted on Sunday for aiding and abetting a drug smuggler sneak 15lbs of marijuana past security....
Airport Security Screening of the Future
A little blurb on airport passengers screening in the Washington Post caught my eye today: AMSTERDAM — The airline industry has presented its vision for a security ‘checkpoint of the future,’ which would speed up safety checks by sorting...
Obama’s Deficit Plan = Higher Airfare
Part of President Obama’s recently announced deficit reduction plan includes a provision that will double security fees on tickets, increasing the price of a round-trip ticket by up to $20. While I agree that airport security should be styled...
TSA Plays Politics, Changes Children Screening Policy
Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano recently announced that children will no longer be required to remove their shoes at airport security checkpoints and also will not be subject to pat-down searches. Instead, their hands will be swabbed for...
Germany Rejects Airport Full Body Scanners
When you are evaluating the acquisition of new technology how do you determine whether it will be a good fit? Do you just buy it without testing it, as the U.S. did in the case of airport full body...
Analysis: TSA Diffuses Full Body Scanner Privacy Concerns
While I am no fan of the TSA, I will give them credit when credit is due. The announcement this week that the TSA will introduce new software on full body scanners that generates an image of a human...