The manual search procedures are incredibly invasive, regardless of who carries them out. (See Judi's remarks on being searched by a female TSA officer.) I wonder who thought them up: that person or group I would like to see investigated.
There are other problems with these machines. One is a radiological safety problem: there is no public data on them, and therefore no independent evaluation of their safety. The claims that the x-rays used by some of these machines (others use microwaves) do not penetrate the skin appear false based on examination of published images. They do not seem to be adequately shielded, and may put TSA officers at great risk. Some technical issues covered here.
Another problem is that it appears possible, though it is not certain, that we are hearing so much about this now because it is anti-government propaganda, aimed perhaps at re-privatizing airport security. There are connections with the Koch Foundation. This Nation article, while deservedly criticized for casting aspersions at John Tyner, has evidence of questionable connections in the work.
I think the messaging has got away from the Koch (pronounced "coke") Party in any event: this appears to be something which both right and left agree on. But it is going to take an act of god to get this fixed. The poll indicating widespread support of the restrictions was an honest telephone poll done by CBS. I'd caution in interpreting the results, that pollsters are forbidden by law to call cell phones, which means that the sample would have skewed to older subjects, and that many poll subjects seem to answer at random when the topic of the poll does not directly concern them. Nonetheless, I think much of the public does not yet grasp that if these procedures become standard in transportation policing they will be deployed far and wide.
ACLU press release. They've been working on this and related issues from the start. Might be time to throw them some (more) money, regardless of any objections to them.
...and how are international travelers and business travelers going to respond to this?
no subject
There are other problems with these machines. One is a radiological safety problem: there is no public data on them, and therefore no independent evaluation of their safety. The claims that the x-rays used by some of these machines (others use microwaves) do not penetrate the skin appear false based on examination of published images. They do not seem to be adequately shielded, and may put TSA officers at great risk. Some technical issues covered here.
Another problem is that it appears possible, though it is not certain, that we are hearing so much about this now because it is anti-government propaganda, aimed perhaps at re-privatizing airport security. There are connections with the Koch Foundation. This Nation article, while deservedly criticized for casting aspersions at John Tyner, has evidence of questionable connections in the work.
I think the messaging has got away from the Koch (pronounced "coke") Party in any event: this appears to be something which both right and left agree on. But it is going to take an act of god to get this fixed. The poll indicating widespread support of the restrictions was an honest telephone poll done by CBS. I'd caution in interpreting the results, that pollsters are forbidden by law to call cell phones, which means that the sample would have skewed to older subjects, and that many poll subjects seem to answer at random when the topic of the poll does not directly concern them. Nonetheless, I think much of the public does not yet grasp that if these procedures become standard in transportation policing they will be deployed far and wide.
ACLU press release. They've been working on this and related issues from the start. Might be time to throw them some (more) money, regardless of any objections to them.
...and how are international travelers and business travelers going to respond to this?