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Airport Scanners Can Store and Transmit Images
CNN is reporting on findings from a Freedom of Information request initiated by the Electronic Privacy Information Center that has revealed that, contrary to public statements by the Transportation Security Agency, full-body scanners can store and transmit images. "In the [FOIA] documents, obtained by the privacy group and provided to CNN, the TSA specifies that the body scanners it purchases must have the ability to store and send images when in 'test mode.' ... 'There is no way for someone in the airport environment to put the machine into the test mode,' [an anonymous] official said, adding that test mode can be enabled only in TSA test facilities. But the official declined to say whether activating test mode requires additional hardware, software or simply additional knowledge of how the machines operate."
If you see a really hot babe going through the scanner and don't get the urge to grab a camera, then you're the perv.
Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
Guys, you're missing a fundamental point here- The right to fly on an airplane is not right which was granted by your government. It's not something we all should expect. You have other options- drive where you need to go, take a cruise, or get your own plane...
that's teh shizzle bizzle
What's the big deal? I can think of better places to get porn.
Greetings and Salutations...
Well, there are a couple of issues here that may have escaped your notice. Firstly, in all the discussions up to this point, EVERY governmental and company representative that discussed the capabilities of the scanners stated that the images were NOT stored in any long term or accessible fashion. They would be snapped, and, displayed on a screen for a person to look at, then, be destroyed.
This was a deliberate lie, as these documents prove.
Secondly, the government is being secretive about how this image transmission to long-term storage is activated. As a long-time analyst and programmer, I suspect that all that it takes is for some one to log into the machine as an administrator, and click a check-box. it has been my experience that "test modes" like this are built to be very easy to access, as the folks that do the testing hate to work any harder than required.
Thirdly, while it may not matter to YOU that your privacy is being invaded with no great benefits or increase in security, it DOES matter to me and many others like me. More and more reports are coming out that indicate that these machines are more theater than an effective tool.
Fourthly, as Pres. Obama noted in his address to the Nation a few nights ago, the only reason that the "Christmas Boob"...sorry...Bomber...was able to get onto the plane with his toys was because of a massive failure to analyze intelligence by the various Federal agencies...including Homeland Security, which was supposed to do EXACTLY that sort of analysis. I appreciated his fairly tough statements, but, frankly, I would have preferred that he be slightly less merciful and go ahead and fire some of the bureaucrats whose incompetence and malfeasance put Americans in jeopardy. That would have been a much clearer message that we have plenty of tools to find and halt terrorist plots now...and that the only thing that will truly deal with the problem is better intelligence gathering, analysis, and, examinations of why it is that so much of the world is pissed enough with America's policies that even well educated members of society are willing to blow them selves up to attempt to strike at us.
Finally, have you noticed that much of the world press is referring to this as a "hysterical" reaction, and that not ony will it not do anything significant to increase America's safety, but, will likely have the effect of causing fewer and fewer world citizens to visit the country for business purposes, or vacations?
Pleasant dreams
Dave Mundt
YAB - http://blog.beemandave.com/
Point well made, but I can't help but to lean towards the idea that you lose certain expectations of privacy when you fly. I mean, based on your logic here, the government shouldn't x-ray bags or run people through metal detectors either. I don't see those rights given to the government anywhere in the constitution. Hell, why shouldn't we all just be able to carry firearms while flying then? I mean, we do have the right to bear arms, right?
that's teh shizzle bizzle