Slashdot Mirror
TSA Body Scanner Opt-out No Longer Guaranteed (slashgear.com)
codguy writes: Up to now, airline passengers have been able opt out of the TSA's Advanced Imaging Technologies (AIT) whole body scanners, and request a physical pat-down for their security check. But ProPublica journalist Julia Angwin points out that a rule change on December 18, 2015 now allows the TSA to compel some passengers to use these scanners instead of giving them a pat-down. The updated rule says, "While passengers may generally decline AIT screening in favor of physical screening, TSA may direct mandatory AIT screening for some passengers," (PDF source). Of course, the criteria for when this can happen is completely unspecified, and one can easily imagine them abusing this by deciding to compel anyone who requests a pat-down to go through the scanners for some reasonable cause from their perspective. Guilty until proven innocent?
I have been opting out for years and appreciate my right to do so. If push comes to shove I would cancel my trip if I was compelled. Is any analysis available if I would be able to get a refund from Visa in this circumstance? Is any documentation possible to get from TSA possible to support such a claim. And is there any other form of non violent protest that I can do on the spot which would not get me put in jail / shit / no-fly listed? Seeking serious answers for a principled person.
Actually, it's walking on thin ice. The right to assemble is guaranteed in the first amendment, and implicit in that is the right to travel. It can be argued, quite rationally, that travel by plane is part of that. I want to travel to Hawaii? Sure, you could take a boat and spend a week round trip in transit, but that's quite a penalty. And what stops a nefarious government from starting a "no public transit" list? And if they revoke your drivers license? Where do we draw the line? What if we're in a not-too-distant future where private ownership of cars is a thing of the past and you can be denied any travel that you can't walk to?
I am more concerned about the clear sign saying "DO NOT USE IF PREGNANT OR MEDICAL CONDITION".
Go fuck yourself. If you are not suspected of a crime, nor have had a writ or warrant signed by a judge, there is no legal basis for a search. "Purchasing a ticket" does not give anyone the legal basis to violate your rights. If you believe that, you're part of the problem.
Fortunately, I won't willingly subject myself to being treated like a slave so I stay as far away from airports as I possibly can. If I ever do have to go to the airport again, I'll be sure and opt-out for the patdown. Of course, I'll also make sure I take 2-3 extra strength Viagra before I turn up at the checkpoint.
Wanting to go see grandma does not equal wanting to get skin cancer and nowhere on an airline ticket does it say you will be forced to endure radiation
I don't like these scanners either, but please don't be an idiot. The amount of ionizing radiation you get from the scanner is radically smaller than the extra amount you are going to get from spending time in an aircraft at 38000 ft, or eating a banana. Both risks are vanishingly small compared to the risk you incurred by driving to the airport.
Flying across the country will subject you to about 4,000 microrem. The TSA scanners, about 5 microrem. Independent (non-TSA affiliated) tests of over 700 scanners showed all were at or below their radiation targets.
There are plenty of good reasons to object to these scanners without introducing pseudscientific bullshit into it. Doing so just gives the other side of this debate more ammo to shoot down our side, who look like loons when they spout this kind of stuff. You want to object to the scanners? Great. Let's do it on civil rights grounds.
Are you aware of the danger of a simple mechanical failure? These are raster machines so they scan you by bombarding you with a paper thin plane beam than pans down your body. If that beam stops, even for a few seconds then it would irradiate the cells along that plane with a massive dose. Not "pseudo science".
"This message was sent from an Apple
I once went through a checkpoint about an hour after visiting a bomb range. (New Mexico Tech Energretic Meaterials Research and Testing Center) and opted out. I handled C4 and ANFO then examined the damage they did and in one case stood in the resulting crater. The pat-down, wipe-the-gloves, scanner test showed nothing.