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."
Video creator here. I actually did it with both the new L-3 ATD (the kind where they allegedly do not look at the nude pictures the machines generate) and the Rapiscan backscatter x-ray where they still visually examine your nude body. The vulnerability I identified applies to both technologies.
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?
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.
If 10 people make the attempt at different airports throughout the country, and detection rate is 95%... the odds of at least one of them slipping through is 37%. Now, who here thinks the TSA screeners are that good? This guy's contention is that they are substantially worse.. and he's probably right. And food for thought: Even if the detection rate was 99%, it would only take 69 people to have a 50/50 chance of getting an illicit item on board. How many terrorists are (allegedly) out there again? If you do the math, the 16 terrorists that caused 9/11 and the resulting economic downfall have cost us maybe $100 billion each.
"Try smuggling this on board along with 69 other people, and you've got a 50% chance of causing The Great Satan 1.4 billion US dollars worth of economic damage."
That's an excellent promotion when you consider you've only got a 3.2% chance of dying in the process. We should be thankful terrorists suck at math. :\ If our own soldiers were this effective at causing economic damage, we would be very feared indeed. Unfortunately, we play by the rules. Our enemies don't.
#fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
Imagine the embarrassment if you were transgender.
I am a trans (MTF) and fly 4-8 times a month both up and down the west coast and transcontinental. I am always neatly dressed in a professional manner, am tall but trim and fit with feminine features. I can expect to be scanned and patted down about 2 of 3 times when entering a TSA check area. It's obvious that the TSA personnel are often not comfortable with me - I've heard almost every reason in the book why I need to be patted down: dress/skirt too long, blouse too flowing, didn't remove my jewelry (most women don't), "random check ma'am," simply "please come this way," and so on.
On one trip to Sacramento last winter (I travel there monthly and they recognize me and I them), there was such a drama (I did nothing unusual and said nothing but "yes, no and thank you") that the suit supervising that shift chased me down after leaving the check area and asked to talk to me further! Eventually, he thanked me and apologized for all the 'extra attention.' I wrote to TSA HQ on their website and thanked TSA for finally acknowledging their over zealousness in hopes this might encourage them to be more sensible, but the excessive attention continues to this day.
I offered to do a transgender sensitivity orientation with the Sacramento staff, which I've done for school systems, public safety organizations and private firms; but of course I never heard back from them about the matter. The whole mess makes one wonder what the ___ their prioritizes are, and what is the likelihood that those intent upon harm are missed when they are so focused on a mature trans-woman they see repeatedly. I've even been interviewed and groped by the same staff on more than one occasion.
For me this is very little about transgender rights and respect and a heck of a lot more about why I sometimes need 2-4 staff to attend to me and the inherent system wide security risks occurring from this unnecessary diversion of resources.