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I refused last week. I got pat down pretty invasively. The TSA agent seemed rather embarrassed about it. The protocol says that when they touch private areas, t
by afshin 16y ago
I refused last week. I got pat down pretty invasively. The TSA agent seemed rather embarrassed about it. The protocol says that when they touch private areas, they must point out that they're using the back of the hand, but being groped is being groped.
If everyone refuses, I hope, it will be simply too costly to continue ... but I'm still not sure if allowing myself to be literally manhandled is any less an invasion of my privacy except insofar as there's no photographic evidence that can be stored indefinitely.
- jemfinch 16y ago> there's no photographic evidence that can be stored indefinitely. The machines are capable of storing the pictures, and all we have is the promise of a long abusive government agency that they are not.
- afshin 16y agoYes, I agree. Maybe I was unclear above, but what I meant to say was that not being photographed was one of the main motivations I had for consenting to being patted down, despite the discomfort.
- tdfx 16y agoIf TSA uses the same machines as the Department of State uses at embassies then I can speak from experience that the pictures are stored by default.
- joshwa 16y agoHaving looked at the TSA documents in the EPIC lawsuit, the TSA operational requirements are that the machines must be incapable of storing the images. Not that this makes me any more OK with subjecting myself (and inflicting upon others) what is essentially a strip search.
- poet 16y agoThe machines are capable of storing images. Straight from the mouth of Gale Rossides, the Deputy Administrator of the TSA [1]. The functionality is supposed to be disabled after an install, but such safeguards seem tenuous at best. [1] http://www.infowars.com/media/tsadoc.pdf http://www.infowars.com/media/tsadoc.pdf
- oiuytgfyhujik 16y agoThere is a gay rights group who are planning to protest it by turning up at the airport in costume insisting on a special pat down and pretending (or not) to enjoy it very much. Sounds like a great day out - especially if you are into uniforms!
- patio11 16y agoSexually harassing someone who makes $10 an hour to make a point to someone who makes $150,000 a year several thousand miles away and who has actual decisionmaking authority does not strike me as a justice-enhancing move.
- afshin 16y agoI don't think there's a reasonable way to interpret the uninvited and unwelcome prodder of one's genitalia as a victim of sexual harassment.
- patio11 16y agoOf course there is. Consider a male patient who has a legitimate medical need to visit a female doctor and have his privates examined. That could possibly be a very uncomfortable situation for the male patient (speaking from personal experience). It is not license to make lewd comments.
- smokeyj 16y agoYou choose to go to the doctor, the TSA is imposing.
- andreyf 16y agoThe individuals working for minimum wage are not imposing, they're trying to do their jobs. Your beef is with a group of people who allocated millions of funds in a bill passed years ago. Harassing the people hired to implement the bill isn't going to convince many lawmakers of anything.
- kreneskyp 16y agoIt's not any less invasive, you're just being abused in a different way. The difference is that they don't want you to make more work for them. Request a supervisor and or second agent be present for your screening to ensure you waste as much of their time as possible.
- adrianwaj 16y agoI wonder if it's worthwhile taking a video camera (like a Flip video) into the pat down booth and filming the whole thing, asking for their ID beforehand. That'll stop their abuse. Maybe setup a site for it too to submit videos.
- oiuytgfyhujik 16y agoIt's illegal to record these guardians of our freedom protecting our rights.