Slashdot Mirror
The Ineffectiveness of TSA Body Scanners - Now With Surveillance Camera Footage
McGruber writes "Jonathan Corbett, the subject of the earlier Slashdot Story: 'The Ineffectiveness of TSA Body Scanners,' has an update for us. His video showing him wandering through a nude body scanner with undetected objects is now complete with the feeds from TSA's security cameras at the checkpoint."
You would know after just 10 secs in the vid...
FOIA, apparently. WTFV.
Or 1.20 that is to be completely true.
Lol, nice. Of course the software the L3 scanners use doesn't show any 'nude' pics anymore, the TSA just gets the warning from the software if it thinks there is a weapons with a generic outline of a human form with an arrow. They used to keep the nude images in a remote room but the last software release I am aware of ditched that too. Ironically, when the software was updated the worry was that it would be less effective and it seems they might be correct. However, were I planning to smuggle something on the plane myself I would hardly count on the scanner not picking it up.
I mean America was always kind of overrated but Sept. 11th really finished it off. Now the constitution is just an annoying old scroll that congress has to work around rather than an important document to be valued and upheld.
After watching the original video some months ago, I had my first confrontation with the nude body scanners in May. I initially wasn't sure if opting out would be easy or hard, but when I saw the woman in front of me (with a toddler in her arms) have the cardboard cutout in front of the "out of service" metal detector moved, I thought "Well, it's just as easy as asking for that."
However, when I requested to not use the scanner, I wasn't allowed to walk through the metal detector despite asking for it (it worked; I saw the lights flashing on it). I was told to wait where I was for a pat down. When the TSA worker walked me to the screening area, he politely told me what he was going to do before he did it, and proceeded to feel along my arms, waistline and chest/back. However, when he went to do my legs, he went straight up from my ankles to my crotch, squishing my genitals into my perineum (I was wearing loose sports shorts). I jumped up a flash of panic, and he told me to stay still, because he was going to do it again on the other leg!
I've traveled across the globe and gone through many security processes (including Israel, where I was subjected to a strip search), and this was by far the most invasive, mortifying experience I've ever had. I found myself sitting by my gate feeling ashamed of what just happened, and suddenly I I understood where those cheesy-seeming accounts of molestation/fondling victims really come from. I've never understood, until now, just how it feels to be groped unwillingly, and how those emotions feel exactly as they are described by sexual assault victims. It's a sick feeling you get in your stomach when someone does something to you without your permission, and you are helpless to stop them. I learned that from the TSA.
I'm not comparing the magnitude of my experience to those of rape victims or children that have been abused, but just the fact that going through a security screening at an American airport jars memories of those horror stories is enough for me to take action and support Jonathan Corbett's cause, and I hope you do, too. The TSA has other methods for security, and is choosing to continue with these naked pictures/shameful patdowns despite public outcry, and it wouldn't be American to not do something about it.
I have gone through TSA's rigamarole before the pat down/body scan. Let me tell you those scans of your carry on - they're pretty much useless. I had blades, screwdrivers, wire, circuit boards and a 1lb bag of Peanut M&M's go though without a hitch.
The equipment uses EM radiation to create an image of your body without your clothes with significant detail and clarity... what would *you* call them?
Within the past two months I accidentally:
- Flew with a pack of fireworks (forgot I had them in one of my bags). Opted out of being irradiated and got swabbed for the explosive detector machine. Nothing.
- Flew with a non-disposable safety razor with spare blades. Disposables are OK, but the ones with the removable blades are not, with good reason. They are just a step down from boxcutters used on 9/11. My carry-on got X-rayed, and i guess they didn't see them.
I think there must be a better approach to airline security.
Freedom scanners?
This is not the funny you're looking for.
Terahertz wave scanners, while perhaps dry it's the correct technical term and due to a number of reasons humans absolutely love formality, even more so if they are in any station associated with power.
also, this from 1997:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/e/a/1997/03/31/NEWS10592.dtl
That is a good one.
I dislike the scanners as much as most other normal people, and it seems the evidence suggests they are ineffective. But the constant complaining about being seen naked puts me off and I don't care to be associated people who are obviously either overacting the part or have legit mental issues related to their body. That some anonymous boob who couldn't find a better paying job sees a digital representation of my cock, does not bother me at all. In fact, if he wants to print out the photo I'll happily autograph it. It isn't that my cock is somehow spectacular looking, it actually looks a lot like other cocks I have seen. Which is the point: most everyone looks roughly the same naked and whether or not a radio wave scanner digitization is available just about everyone can guess about what you'd look like naked using just the clues provided by your clothed body.
Yes, maybe you have 3 nipples and don't want anyone to know. Maybe, like an ex girlfriend of mine, you seem to have no nipples at all. Or you hang to the left or some similar triviality. In the long run you'd be a lot better off just not worrying about who might know those inconsequential details about you.
But the scanners are still stupid for other reasons.
Not that I necessarily doubt that the video is genuine and shows what it claims, but he went to all the trouble to execute this, record handheld video, obtain the security camera footage, and sync it all together, but he doesn't once show us what he is supposedly sneaking through, other than a mostly unidentifiable glance in the security footage. He should have kept his camera filming the whole time while he walked into the bathroom, went into a stall, and then pulled out what he showed the camera. As it is, this could just as easily be a hoax. That "object" we see in the security cam footage could just as easily be a piece of fabric
Highly profitable. Failure also helps profitability, just ask Gates and Ballmer, it's called upgrades.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
What is this guy trying to accomplish other than ensuring eventual double scanning?
It's like driving through a DUI/DWI checkpoint drunk to make a point. More checkpoints.. yay? I mean these things are supposed to be deterrents.
You can't cry "naked body scanning" and at the same time say that is not acting as a deterrent, right? What is the logic, someone can see my naked body in high def and count my pubes, but I can try to bring a prohibited item through anyway? Well, duuuuuuuuh, that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to stop you. How much confidence did this guy really have, what was the metal object anyway?
You can watch any prison show and learn a million different ways to make a shiv out of stuff on hand, it's not like specifically stopping small hunks of metal are really worth much. BUT, thanks to this guy they'll probably make you walk through the metal detector in the video TOO, just so some asshole doesn't get too confident.
Did anyone find the video a little hard to watch? I understand the effort and it's a valiant one, but with trying to watch the videos to see whats going on and the creator going on at quite a brisk pace to his speech, I found it a little more then disjointed. Explain the video so I can REALLY tell what is going on in each step (the graphics are not really that explanatory) , then go on your rant of what the TSA refuses to fix about itself. Both together are a little confusing.
Your comment reminds me of the Dave Chapelle sketch where he tells an attorney he can describe Michael Jackson's alleged penis even though he has never seen it.
"there's a head, a shaft, some balls, hair - maybe pressed, permed hair, with glitter sprinkled on it"
Just like the rest of us.
Can't the TSA just have the people scanned twice? The 1st scan has the person facing the scanner to get the view as shown in the videos, and then the 2nd scan with the person turned 90 degrees. This would make it much harder to get something through the scanner without it showing up. Of course the body is usually wider side to side than it is front to back, but looking at the different body types that go through the scanner now, I don't think that would be an issue for most people.
This method would take twice as long to process a person, but is still faster than a pat-down and more secure than a metal scanner. Better yet, place the metal scanner at the exit of the Body Scanner as well as using the 2 scan method and it would be all the more secure.
Terahertz wave scanners, while perhaps dry it's the correct technical term and due to a number of reasons humans absolutely love formality, even more so if they are in any station associated with power.
What planet are you from? Most humans HATE formality, it's only scientists, autistics, and a couple of other weirdos that like it.
How many times have you heard your dad ask your mom to move her "2.0L 2005 Honda Accord ES sedan" out of the driveway so he can pressure-wash the concrete?
How many times did you ask your parents if you could play your "Nintendo Entertainment System" for half an hour after your nightly bath?
Do you send a text to your girlfriend to tell her you will be late because "Interstate 675" is backed up, or because "675" or "the beltway" or "the highway" is backed up?
How many times have you heard President Obama announced as "President Barack Hussein Obama II," or Dubya as "President George Herbert Walker Bush?"
No, people hate formality - it takes too goddamn long. Hence, "body scanners" or "nude scanners" over "full-body terahertz wave scanners." And "nude scanners" just helps to differentiate from a walk-through metal detector, since that is also a "body scanner."
My sister opened a computer store in Hawaii. She sells C shells by the seashore.
Am I the only one who's noticed that neither of his videos present any evidence that he actually walked through the scanner with the metal object? I am sure the system is not foolproof, but this guy has no evidence that he fooled it. Come on slashdotters, pay attention.
I hate the TSA as much as the next guy, but I watched the video twice and it doesn't show the guy defeating the scanners. It just shows him going through the x-ray.. It doesn't prove that he sneaked anything through...
"The guy is clearly nuts. He goes on and on about "nude scanners". If he wants to be taken seriously he should speak seriously and not "spin" things."
I loathe Alex Jones, but they are. The images are perfectly visible images of a nude human body, there are plenty of incidents where the TSA has been caught chuckling at images of buxom women and teenagers.
Yeah, I mean are these guys scared to take a shower at the gym? Once you get out of grammar school someone else seeing your wiener is not a big deal.
Seriously, can you imagine the massive amounts of cocks n titties the TSA people see? After about two weeks they've seen it all, just like the Mexican guy who mops the floor in the locker room. I guarantee that guy does not give a fuck about your dick.
On the other hand getting blasted by radiation every time I need to take a flight does worry me. So I still think the TSA and it's cancer machines need to fuck off but the "zomg a strange man saw my penis" angle comes off a bit immature.
"Some stranger can see your wiener" - works on religious folk
"It could increase the chance of getting cancer" - works on organic buyers
"It doesn't fucking work" - works on slashdot
This guy's smile is as frozen as the lady's on the delta pre-flight safety video.
Terahertz wave scanners, while perhaps dry it's the correct technical term and due to a number of reasons humans absolutely love formality, even more so if they are in any station associated with power.
Actually they are not Terahertz. They operate in the microwave band.
For obvious reasons the TSA would not like this widely known.
Dubya is just George Walker Bush. His father is George H.W. Bush. Also, the Republicans Love using Obama's full name (minus the President and the II) as part of their little "paint the guy as a Muslim" campaign of deceit. That said, I agree with your other points. BTW, the correct term is "porno scanner", not "nude scanner". The latter sounds too benign. Just FWIW. :-D
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
How many times have you heard... Dubya as "President George Herbert Walker Bush?"
Well considering that 'Dubya' is President George Walker Bush (43, Pres. 2001-2009, A.K.A. George W. Bush, Shrub, The Decider, or "Mission Accomplished") and his father is President George Herbert Walker Bush (41, Pres. 1989-1993, A.K.A. George H.W. Bush, Bush Sr., or "Read my lips, no new taxes") it would make sense that the answer to that question would be never.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_H._W._Bush
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush
Billions of dollars in technology thwarted by a $1 sewing kit probably made in China? I feel soooo much safer now.....
People like formality when they can use it to wield power while evading responsibility. Its not Joe that's stonewalling, its the Engineering Change Control Committee (which happens to be controlled by Joe). Also people like formality when it strokes their own egos. For example, Lebron James always refers to The Game of Basketball during interviews, instead of just calling it basketball, as if we would be confused otherwise. Likewise with Joe, who feels pretty special being in control of the ECCC.
I am perfectly fine with body scanners. As long as all members of congress receive a full body cavity search before each session!! You know it's always a great idea to protect them and keep them safe. It's in the name of freedom. Let's call it the SB Ben Dover Bill.
Would you like Freedom Fries with that?
I was promised a flying car. Where is my flying car?
Killing Bin laden and the few other head of disparate terrorism groups was only a Pyrrhic victory. The US slowly trend toward facism (especially in its promotion of violence and war) and lost its "bastion of freedom" shine (if it was ever anything but Fata Morgana). Now it is watched as disgust while it torture and slaughter civilians (yes no matter what word gaming you use, those terrorist are civilian and that is not even counting the "collateral damage" euphemism for "we slaughter innocent people and disguise it under a nice name so that the general public don't see the immediate impact of making up many family hating America)).
Most humans HATE formality, it's only scientists, autistics, and a couple of other weirdos that like it.
You don't know many scientists. Or only know a very specific breed of scientists (like maybe MD PhDs, they might be more formal). Or are confused on the definition of formality.
I'm also not sure about the autistics part either.
In this case I think they don't want to use the name "terahertz wave scanner" because it sounds too scary. People may realise they're being exposed to potentially ionising radiation.
Terahertz wave scanners, while perhaps dry it's the correct technical term
Citation badly needed. AFAIK those scanners do not operate anywhere near Thz frequencies. More like 27 - 30 Ghz.
Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave.
BTW, the correct term is "porno scanner", not "nude scanner". The latter sounds too benign. Just FWIW. :-D
If you are going for non- benign, try calling it a "pedo scanner", and use the term often and loudly when young kids are lining up to be scanned.
I dislike the scanners as much as most other normal people, and it seems the evidence suggests they are ineffective. But the constant complaining about being seen naked puts me off and I don't care to be associated people who are obviously either overacting the part or have legit mental issues related to their body.
You realize that nearly the same argument could be made about a cavity search. Just like we all have genitals which look similar, we all have intestines which look similar. No need to be shy about it when national security is at stake. So bend over and allow yourself to be fully searched. Anyone who objects to that clearly has serious mental issues and can be safely ignored.
Emotionally I object to being seen naked by anyone I am not about to have sex with. Intellectually/philosophically I greatly object to any society where a government agent is allowed to strip search innocent people who just want to exercise the basic human right to move about freely. Notice how I didn't use the term "constitutional" right. The constitution may or may not protect a citizen's freedom to move about freely, but basic human rights most certainly do. Personally I would rather die than allow a TSA agent to see me naked.
Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave.
Protests are far more effective for getting changes enacted. Revolts, like we saw in the middle east last year, can produce change but they also result in many undesirable consequences. They are simply too destructive.
Interesting claim. I drew the opposite conclusion: Libya had a revolt, and was very effective at removing the oppressive government. Egypt had protests, and as of today, it seems that the Egyptian military (the real power all along) is going to be able to effectively stymie the whole "peaceful revolution" and retain power undemocratically. Bahrain had peaceful protests, and nothing's changed except their government just recently convicted & imprisoned some docs who were "guilty" of treating injured protestors.
It's unreasonable to expect that the entrenched interests will be willing to voluntarily cede power and the wealth they have accumulated. Libya may or may not emerge from their revolution as a healthy democracy, but one thing that can be said for certain is that Gaddafi and his supporters won't be hijacking their revolution.
Because they're dead.
It really is the only way to be sure.
It was quite effectively able to see him nude. Job done!
So you don't have body issues? Good for you.
Lots of people do have issues. Telling them to "get over it" isn't good enough in a civilized society.
No sig today...
Seriously, can you imagine the massive amounts of cocks n titties the TSA people see? After about two weeks they've seen it all, just like the Mexican guy who mops the floor in the locker room. I guarantee that guy does not give a fuck about your dick.
Yeah, the TSA would never send a hot chick through the scanner multiple times ("just to be sure") or call their buddies over to take a look at her cans.
Oh, wait, yes they do.
I guess it's like porn. Nobody can make any money from porn because once people have seen a couple of porn videos they lose all interest in seeing more, right? Oh, wait...
No sig today...
I case you missed it, there are several reports out that ask questions about the amount of radiation you're exposed to by those scanners - an issue that will rear its ugly head later when this radiation starts to cause health problems.
I'll have the pat-down, thanks. I may even ask them to do it again if I haven't managed to come during the process. After all, you are paying for it with your tax dollars, so you might as well get something out of it..
Because to be honest, I cannot tell the difference between the two parties which have a choke hold on American politics.
I wish there were third, fourth, and even fifth, viable political parties in the US. However it seems to me that the two who control it are more than happy to pass laws to prevent people from spending money on campaigns unless it is spent on them. Then to top it off they control most of the redistricting at the state level and where they don't do that directly they have sycophants in place.
Other party, I wish.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
Terahertz wave scanners, while perhaps dry it's the correct technical term and due to a number of reasons humans absolutely love formality, even more so if they are in any station associated with power.
Actually they are not Terahertz. They operate in the microwave band.
For obvious reasons the TSA would not like this widely known.
Actually, "microwave band" is a series of bands, where what we think of as microwave frequency, insert your joke, is in the lowest part (2.45GHz) while the full body scanners use order of magnitude higher frequency in the upper parts, better refered to as EHF band. Sometimes referred to as sub-terahertz
Your 2.4GHz WiFi would be in the same range as your microwave though.
I always liked to call them the radioactive pr0n scanner. You can opt out of going through them and instead get some freedom fondles.
Nobody mentioned your imaginary car, so I will. Honda didn't make a 2.0L Accord in 2005. It would not have been an ES either. Sorry, dude.
There is no security. Between flights, planes are still cleaned by illegals.
The Keystone Cops have spent decades trying to stop people who just want to get high.
There is no way they will stop everyone who wants to die.
Maybe, just maybe, they should stop murdering children in other countries.
Meanwhile, every time I read another one of these stories all I can think about is Osama, grinning from beyond the grave and saying "mission accomplished".
As a parent, I'm against both the naked body scans and intrusive pat downs. The former would add unneeded radiation exposure to my child and produce a photo of him naked. I could get in trouble for taking a picture of my kid in the bath and having it printed out at the local CVS (yes, parents have been accused of child porn for this and had their kids taken away), but the TSA could produce a naked photo of my kid "for National Security."
On the pat down front, I - as a parent - have instilled in my kids that there is a very limited group of people who can touch them "there." Mommy and Daddy (mostly for tub time) and their doctor. That's it. Now we need to add Random TSA Dude to the list? This is completely unacceptable to me.
I've been lucky so far in that my family hasn't been subjected to the Rapiscan (seriously, could they have chosen a worse name) or the intrusive pat downs. However, there have been plenty of stories of TSA agents who subject kids to horrific pat down experiences for minor "offenses" (like running to hug Grandma before her pat down was complete).
My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
Exactly. Try telling someone who was a victim of sexual assault to "just get over it" and subject themselves to an intrusive TSA pat down. I guarantee they won't be able to "just get over it" even if they tried.
Or try telling a kid (who has been told not to let strangers touch them inappropriately) that they should just let Random TSA Agent take them to the side, away from mommy and daddy, and run their (TSA Agent's) hands up and down their (kid's) body.
"Just get over it" isn't an appropriate response by any measure.
My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
'That goddamned piece of paper' as it was once referred to by Bush2. Or so I've read.
If you are going for non- benign, try calling it a "pedo scanner", and use the term often and loudly when young kids are lining up to be scanned.
I prefer to pronounce the brand name "RapiScan" with a long 'a'. I don't know if it's even a mispronunciation.
Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
Get rid of the body scanners and pat downs? Great idea, lets just go back to where we were before and let terrorists just walk on board a plane with whatever bombs they feel like. Great idea! And don't give me the 'lets do the Israeli watch and profile' garbage. A single one of our airports does 4 times their volume per year. It just can't be done at that scale.
FFS the Aussies will be required to be microwaved from July 2012 on. Just wonderful. Let's see the Australian Prime Minister go through a Pornoscanner.
Meanwhile, from http://blog.tsa.gov/ , this is a classic:
"Always pack your expensive dive equipment and accessories in your carry-on luggage."
Why? Because if you pack it in your luggage it may not be there when you pick up your luggage on the other side.
Let's go another one:
"Always pack your dive computers and regulators in carry-on luggage because these items are sensitive and do not need to be tossed around under the plane by baggage handlers"
So, here the TSA is admitting to damaging customer luggage and luggage contents. Great.
and this little gem:
"Always pack any prescription masks with you in carry-on luggage. If you lose this item it could ruin your whole trip."
Yeah, if someone stolelife saving medicine from me because I got on a plane and was stupid enough to put it in my locked luggage because it will possibly be stolen by the TSA I'd be upset. Well done captain obvious.
Alright, let's go one more:
"Do not forget the most important item! Make sure you lock your baggage with a TSA approved lock. This will prevent anyone from removing items out of your dive bags. "
Meaning that only the TSA is allowed to steal from your bags..
Why does anyone put up with the TSA antics?
Seriously, why haven't 100+ people just walked into an airport with sledgehammers and "fixed" the pornoscanners?
What could the government do if everyone participated in the destruction of these machines?
Sorry to be the nerd here, but there are two different types of EM radiation used by these scanners: x-rays and millimeter waves. Neither of these two are in the terahertz range.
I think your on to something with your intestines and genitals all look the same. I think they should have a line of port-a-potty type boxes, you go in, drop your drawers and sit down. TSA goon just reaches under the seat from behind and does a full cavity search / cock fondle. They could charge extra for a happy ending.
WHAT "evidence?" There is no evidence with data we can take and replicate in a properly conducted scientific experiment.
> but the TSA could produce a naked photo of my kid "for National Security."
Right, because no TSA person would ever commit a sex crime, so we don't have to worry about a TSA operator saving and sharing pictures of your naked children.
Except... do a news search with the keywords "TSA" and "Sex crime", and read some of the relevant hits.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
I bet you call Geiger counters "Geiger-Müller tubes connected to electric impulse counters", too. You are fun at parties.
This may not be entirely on-topic, but discussions of TSA agents and personal privacy tend to raise this question in my mind. There are some jobs where the people who most want the job are the people you don't want to have it. Arguably this may include anything in politics, for instance.
Regarding TSA pat-down or naked-scan agent, it occurs to me that the people who want that job are likely to be the people you don't want to have that job.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
From Merriam-Webster:
"3a : characterized by punctilious respect for form : methodical "
That's the definition to which I was referring.
And I'm finishing up my PhD in materials chemistry, so yes, it's fully-educated chemists, biologists, and engineers with whom I interact, that enjoy formality. It's funny, when working, we absolutely abhor formality, and shortcut everything left and right, but as soon as it comes down to any kind of written work or public speaking, our words and phrases have more syllables than OctoMom has diapers to change. I can't explain my colleagues' justifications, but for me it's often a game, to see how well I can obfuscate the meaning of a sentence while still maintaining proper grammatical form.
As to autistics, they often get very upset without a formal structure/schedule, and tend to refer to things with complete use of their names.
My sister opened a computer store in Hawaii. She sells C shells by the seashore.
all tsa "agents" need to be put on trial, like the nazis at nurenberg after world war 2!
even the tsa agents already in jail for other crimes should not be imune from facing charges for crimes against humanity!