The Growing Revolt Against an Intrusive TSA
It looks like the people who fly, whether in the cockpit or the passenger cabin, have about had it with the TSA and its intrusive security measures : The federal government’s efforts to beef up airport security amid increasing terror threats is sparking a growing backlash among airline passengers, labor unions and advocacy groups who say the “naked strip search” machines or aggressive pat-downs that screeners use go too far. “They have wide discretion but they don’t have unlimited discretion,” said John Verdi, senior counsel with the Electronic Privacy Information Center, or EPIC, a privacy advocacy group that is challenging the government in court. Last month, the Transportation Security Administration began a slow rollout of high-tech body scanners, funded by $73 million in federal stimulus funds, that give screeners the ability to see beneath a passenger’s clothing while they search for weapons. The devices use a low dose of radiation to create a computerized image of a person’s body. “Advanced imaging technology is an integral tool in TSA’s layered counterterrorism approach that enables us to stay ahead of evolving threats to aviation security,” TSA Administrator John S. Pistole said in a written statement. “We remain committed to deploying imaging technology to protect the traveling public.” At the same time, screeners began “enhanced” pat-downs of airline passengers who opt against the body scanner or set off a metal detector. The new searches require screeners to touch passengers’ breasts and genitals. This is why the day before Thanksgiving has been declared ” National Opt-Out Day ” by a group who hopes to protest the naked scanners and tie up airport security on the busiest travel day of the year. Homeland Security has a bad habit of overreacting to incidents and arbitrarily declaring new rules following everything that happens.
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on November 12, 2010. Filed under