5 ms·

> As an American citizen who travelled extensively up until TSA made me too miserable to continue, What happened?

Steeeve 10y ago
While I want to and could go for days on end about it, experience tells me that it's better to not poke the bear too much online.
- __jal 10y ago
  And here is the chilling effect in action, folks. Enjoy your freedom of speech.
  - BoorishBears 10y ago
    To play devil's advocate, it's pretty easy to claim that the reason you don't want to detail something as personal as your treatment at the hands of the TSA after claiming it was so horrid that it discouraged you from traveling, is that the TSA will somehow find your online Hacker News profile and single you out next time you try and fly. But it's also possible that maybe the poster doesn't want to reveal something personal, or that the treatment might not be considered as severe as the first comment implied by others, or a myriad of reasons.
    - funnyfacts365 10y ago
      But he explicitly said it's better notbto poke the beat that much online, so your whole reply doesn't make any sense. Unless your whole point was to call GP a liar. Devils advocate my ass.
      - zepto 10y ago
        He or she isn't calling the GP a liar. The GP may legitimately have these fears, but if we don't know the story we can't tell anything about what they mean.
    - mkagenius 10y ago
      > somehow find your online Hacker News profile and single you out next time pretty sure they don't know what hacker news is.
      - Nomentatus 10y ago
        Pretty sure they don't have to. It's a big dragnet, and bots to analyse public text are cheap like dirt. But yes, I'm sure they know any place a hacker is likely to hang out quite well. Oops, used the h-word there. Hi bots!
        BoorishBears 10y ago
        Actually what I meant was the GP said it was an anonymous post, I don't think automatically correlating random usernames to real people is that cheap except in specific cases where username = real name.
        Nomentatus 10y ago
        Metadata includes the time. And for the internet (as opposed to phones) they trace the whole routing through the net of each message to be sure they have the real origin, and then store that. There's a reason NSA buildings are so big.
    - Steeeve 10y ago
      > , is that the TSA will somehow find your online Hacker News profile and single you out next time you try and fly. Not hacker news, but my "anonymous" online postings that were anti-TSA most certainly affected my travel experience. And I'm not talking radical activist postings. Just real world bs postings about my continued bad experiences, and my personal opinions such as the one in my original post.
      - brokenmachine 10y ago
        Really? How did they connect your "anonymous" postings to you at the border? Did they go through your web history?
        bigbugbag 10y ago
        So there is this thing called internet tracking, then there is this other thing called google or is it facebook or is it nsa ? well I don't really remember[1] but they are really good at it. One my friend was interviewed at the border, asked if she was coming to work, answered no, been show her private facebook message saying she would be looking for a job there, got denied entry and put on a special list. [1]: was it carnivore? echelon? five eyes? man my memory is not so good.
        narutouzumaki 10y ago
        I cannot believe it is possible to actually access private messages in social networks such as facebook in such a willy nilly manner - that is not to say I do not believe you, but can you give some form of proof? Did they force her to open her account or did they have access beforehand? How did your friend react?
- Fjolsvith 10y ago
  Well, you could tell the story of someone you knew who had such and such experience...
gcb0 10y ago
you ask that like you need something worse than being forced barefoot in a disgusting floor, going thru an xray machine that haven't been properly documented and having you carefully packed bagage all messed up. things beyond that are just the icying on the cake.
- zepto 10y ago
  Yes - I think you do need something more than that to become so defeated that you feel trapped and unable to travel. I'm not saying that stuff isn't awful. Just that it's minor compared to other hardships that people routinely overcome.
  - nfbush 10y ago
    So I should agree to go along with humiliation because other people do? Well that's some fucking logic.
    - cglace 10y ago
      I don't think most people feel humiliated taking off their shoes and going through an xray machine.
      - balls187 10y ago
        If anything, most people are just upset that they're stuck in hour long lines waiting to go through security. When you visit a mosque or a hindu temple, you are required to remove your shoes. Also being asian, when you visit my house, you are also required to remove your shoes.
        gcb0 10y ago
        I hope your house is cleaner than an airport security line.
        10y ago
skierscott 10y ago
I've been patted down by the TSA. I've had a multi-tool (~$160) and beverages (~$20) confiscated. I've since obtained TSA pre-check but this is fixing a problem that shouldn't exist. Additionally, there's some question over TSA's ban on leaving the screening area, see [1] for a survey. For an argument on unreasonable seizures, see David Post's post [2]. [1]:https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/04/06/do-travelers-have-a-right-to-leave-airport-security-screening-areas-without-the-tsas-permission/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/201... [2]:https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/04/05/how-many-constitutional-violations-does-it-take-to-keep-our-planes-safe/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/201...

While I want to and could go for days on end about it, experience tells me that it's better to not poke the bear too much online.

__jal 10y ago
And here is the chilling effect in action, folks. Enjoy your freedom of speech.
- BoorishBears 10y ago
  To play devil's advocate, it's pretty easy to claim that the reason you don't want to detail something as personal as your treatment at the hands of the TSA after claiming it was so horrid that it discouraged you from traveling, is that the TSA will somehow find your online Hacker News profile and single you out next time you try and fly. But it's also possible that maybe the poster doesn't want to reveal something personal, or that the treatment might not be considered as severe as the first comment implied by others, or a myriad of reasons.
  - funnyfacts365 10y ago
    But he explicitly said it's better notbto poke the beat that much online, so your whole reply doesn't make any sense. Unless your whole point was to call GP a liar. Devils advocate my ass.
    - zepto 10y ago
      He or she isn't calling the GP a liar. The GP may legitimately have these fears, but if we don't know the story we can't tell anything about what they mean.
  - mkagenius 10y ago
    > somehow find your online Hacker News profile and single you out next time pretty sure they don't know what hacker news is.
    - Nomentatus 10y ago
      Pretty sure they don't have to. It's a big dragnet, and bots to analyse public text are cheap like dirt. But yes, I'm sure they know any place a hacker is likely to hang out quite well. Oops, used the h-word there. Hi bots!
      - BoorishBears 10y ago
        Actually what I meant was the GP said it was an anonymous post, I don't think automatically correlating random usernames to real people is that cheap except in specific cases where username = real name.
        Nomentatus 10y ago
        Metadata includes the time. And for the internet (as opposed to phones) they trace the whole routing through the net of each message to be sure they have the real origin, and then store that. There's a reason NSA buildings are so big.
  - Steeeve 10y ago
    > , is that the TSA will somehow find your online Hacker News profile and single you out next time you try and fly. Not hacker news, but my "anonymous" online postings that were anti-TSA most certainly affected my travel experience. And I'm not talking radical activist postings. Just real world bs postings about my continued bad experiences, and my personal opinions such as the one in my original post.
    - brokenmachine 10y ago
      Really? How did they connect your "anonymous" postings to you at the border? Did they go through your web history?
      - bigbugbag 10y ago
        So there is this thing called internet tracking, then there is this other thing called google or is it facebook or is it nsa ? well I don't really remember[1] but they are really good at it. One my friend was interviewed at the border, asked if she was coming to work, answered no, been show her private facebook message saying she would be looking for a job there, got denied entry and put on a special list. [1]: was it carnivore? echelon? five eyes? man my memory is not so good.
        narutouzumaki 10y ago
        I cannot believe it is possible to actually access private messages in social networks such as facebook in such a willy nilly manner - that is not to say I do not believe you, but can you give some form of proof? Did they force her to open her account or did they have access beforehand? How did your friend react?
Fjolsvith 10y ago
Well, you could tell the story of someone you knew who had such and such experience...

gcb0 10y ago

you ask that like you need something worse than being forced barefoot in a disgusting floor, going thru an xray machine that haven't been properly documented and having you carefully packed bagage all messed up. things beyond that are just the icying on the cake.

zepto 10y ago
Yes - I think you do need something more than that to become so defeated that you feel trapped and unable to travel. I'm not saying that stuff isn't awful. Just that it's minor compared to other hardships that people routinely overcome.
- nfbush 10y ago
  So I should agree to go along with humiliation because other people do? Well that's some fucking logic.
  - cglace 10y ago
    I don't think most people feel humiliated taking off their shoes and going through an xray machine.
    - balls187 10y ago
      If anything, most people are just upset that they're stuck in hour long lines waiting to go through security. When you visit a mosque or a hindu temple, you are required to remove your shoes. Also being asian, when you visit my house, you are also required to remove your shoes.
      - gcb0 10y ago
        I hope your house is cleaner than an airport security line.
        10y ago

skierscott 10y ago

I've been patted down by the TSA. I've had a multi-tool (~$160) and beverages (~$20) confiscated. I've since obtained TSA pre-check but this is fixing a problem that shouldn't exist. Additionally, there's some question over TSA's ban on leaving the screening area, see [1] for a survey. For an argument on unreasonable seizures, see David Post's post [2]. [1]:https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/04/06/do-travelers-have-a-right-to-leave-airport-security-screening-areas-without-the-tsas-permission/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/201... [2]:https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/04/05/how-many-constitutional-violations-does-it-take-to-keep-our-planes-safe/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/201...