Loss of Privacy

Bruce Schneier calls it The Normalization of Security. We have become so accustomed to TSA security, that, even if it’s a parody, people accept it as the normal thing to do.

The second room of the queue is now a security check area, similar to a TSA checkpoint. The two G-series droids are still there, G2-9T scanning luggage and G2-4T scanning passengers. For those attraction junkies, you’ll remember that the G-series droids are so named because in the original Disneyland Park version of the ride, they were created by removing the “skins” from two of the goose animatronics from the soon-to-close America Sings attraction (Goose = “G” series). While we won’t tell you why, you’ll enjoy paying a lot of attention to what the scans of the luggage show is inside. When it’s your turn to go through the passenger scan (a thermal body scan effect), you may be verbally accosted by a security droid. [Editor Note (5/23/11): This is a theming element of the queue, and a great parody at the expense of TSA. This is NOT a serious or actual security scan - the thermal imaging is similar to what has been used for years in Test Track at Epcot.] Also, keep an eye out in the queue for an earlier version of RX-24 (“Captain Rex”) from the original Star Tours; he’s labeled “defective” and has some familiar dialogue.

While I don’t normally mind parodies, this seems to me as a way of legitimizing something that should not exist in the first place. It makes invasive security acceptable. Yes, it’s a joke because the “security” on the ride is considered a joke and extremely lazy, however, it is very unsettling.

The feeling of security and the reality of security don’t always match, says computer-security expert Bruce Schneier. He explains why we spend billions addressing news story risks, like the “security theater” now playing at your local airport, while neglecting more probable risks — and how we can break this pattern. (Recorded at TEDxPSU, October 2010 at Penn State University in University Park, PA. Duration: 21:05)

An excerpt from the upcoming documentary “Code 2600.” Famous security guru and philosopher Bruce Schneier deconstructs the TSA masterfully.

Bruce Schneier has a great article, “Why the TSA Can’t Back Down,” covering the fact that there is no way the TSA can retreat from their current stance on airport security.

But now, the TSA is in a bind. Regardless of whatever lobbying came before, or whatever former DHS officials had a financial interest in these scanners, the TSA has spent billions on those scanners, claiming they’re essential. But because people can opt out, the alternate manual method must be equally effective; otherwise, the terrorists could just opt out. If they make the pat-downs less invasive, it would be the same as admitting the scanners aren’t essential. Senior officials would get fired over that.

So not counting inconsequential modifications to demonstrate they’re “listening,” the pat-downs will continue. And they’ll continue for everyone: children, abuse survivors, rape survivors, urostomy bag wearers, people in wheelchairs. It has to be that way; otherwise, the terrorists could simply adapt. They’d hide their explosives on their children or in their urostomy bags. They’d recruit rape survivors, abuse survivors, or seniors. They’d dress as pilots. They’d sneak their PETN through airport security using the very type of person who isn’t being screened.

And PETN is what the TSA is looking for these days. That’s pentaerythritol tetranitrate, the plastic explosive that both the Shoe Bomber and the Underwear Bomber attempted but failed to detonate. It’s what was mailed from Yemen. It’s in Iraq and Afghanistan. Guns and traditional bombs are passé; PETN is the terrorist tool of the future.

The problem is that no scanners or puffers can detect PETN; only swabs and dogs work. What the TSA hopes is that they will detect the bulge if someone is hiding a wad of it on their person. But they won’t catch PETN hidden in a body cavity. That doesn’t have to be as gross as you’re imagining; you can hide PETN in your mouth. A terrorist can go through the scanners a dozen times with bits in his mouth each time, and assemble a bigger bomb on the other side. Or he can roll it thin enough to be part of a garment, and sneak it through that way. These tricks aren’t new. In the days after the Underwear Bomber was stopped, a scanner manufacturer admitted that the machines might not have caught him.

Schneier details that it’s fortunate that PETN is difficult to explode, but the TSA isn’t going to back down. We know from an article Schneier wrote several years ago that the only defense against terrorism is better, stronger cockpit doors and convincing the passengers to fight back. We’ve done both. If we choose to continue to be terrorized, then it’s our fault that our privacy and civil rights have been taken away.

Earlier in the week, I had intended on writing a great post on the TSA scanners, opting out of them, and the invasive TSA pat downs. Since it’s been all over every news outlet I have come across, I thought I could better serve the story with links to some important stories and websites you should check out to learn more on why everyone should opt out while still insisting that the pat downs be scaled back.

Before you begin, you should familiarize yourself with the TSA guidelines so that you can understand just how many times the TSA screeners are violating their own rules and regulations.

First, and foremost, if you have a problem with the TSA, you need to actually go to their website and let them know about it. The TSA are currently hiding under a rock, pretending that people enjoy this sort of thing. Politicians don’t care either, because they are exempt, apparently, from going through security.

One of the best places to visit concerning the full body scanners is Bruce Schneier’s blog. He has an excellent article about everything that is going on and is a great starting point. Since his story also has nearly every link I had intended on making, please check it out. Read the stories. Watch the videos. This is an important issue that everyone should be informed about.

In addition to the numerous links on Bruce Schneier’s blog, here are a few more that have popped up since he made his post.

It’s official, TSA says submit to freedom fondle or pay 11k fine. They say it’s your choice, but, it’s only your choice if you can afford the $11k fine.

Current scanner deployment.

The TSA calls it unfortunate. I call it disgraceful. A man was left covered in his own urine when the TSA broke the seal on his urostomy bag.

The TSA made a cancer survivor remove her prosthetic breast and show it to them.

A young boy is strip searched by the TSA.

Doug Melvin, the former TSA director in Boise is caught naked and masturbating at a hotel.

These are photos from Denver International Airport of actual pat downs. This is the airport I fly out of.

The TSA has granted airline pilots an exception to screenings.

The best headline I’ve seen came from reddit. Obama backs freedom fondling.

Reddit asks, “If there were an airline with no screening at all, would you fly it?”

Senator Ron Paul has introduced the American Traveler Dignity Act.

Senator Joseph Lieberman, the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, thinks the scanners are a good thing.

Former Governor of Minnesota, Jesse Ventura, says he won’t fly again due to the regular abuse he gets from the TSA.

Ralph Nader weighs in on the issue.

Many TSA agents hate the new rules over the groping nature of the pat downs and find that morale is low.  It remains to be seen if they will take a stand against the pat downs or continue to follow along.

This is a video of a story in March 2010 of a 4-year old boy who was told to remove his leg braces so that he could go through security. He can’t walk without them, but the TSA didn’t care.

Airports can hire their own security. It need not be the TSA, however, there are only five approved companies to pick from.

SeaPort airlines is TSA-free. You can show up 15 minutes before departure and still fly. Unfortunately, they don’t fly where I go.

New York lawmakers intend to kick the TSA our of their airports.

In 2008, the TSA screeners were avoiding their own security.

The US military forbids Afghani forces from doing the very thing the TSA is doing to American citizens on a daily basis.

There are many health questions about the full body scanners. No one is entirely sure they are safe.

The scanners are easily confused by the folds in your clothing.

Flyer Talk discusses what I have suspected all along. The pat downs are more invasive because they want you to go through the full body scanners.

Slate has two good stories on the issue.

Art Carden has an editorial in Forbes calling for the TSA to be abolished and there are questions about whether the full body scanners are even constitutional.

You can carry fully automatic weapons on board if you’re in uniform, but don’t you dare try to bring your nail clippers.

The full body scanners can see sanitary napkins that women are wearing, yet the TSA doesn’t see this as a privacy or dignity concern.

There is an IAMA post from someone who is a TSA supervisor on reddit.

The things the TSA does, do not make sense. Then again, they don’t have any time to train their agents properly.

Someone got a gun past TSA. A god damn gun. He remembered it was in his bag and turned himself in. What is TSA’s response? They call everyone back, including a plane that had already left the gate, and force everyone to once again go through the same bullshit procedure that had failed to detect the gun.

The TSA could face multiple sexual assault charges levied against them.

Mark Hemingway wants to know, “Since the TSA molested my family, why doesn’t Obama volunteer to subject his family to the same security procedures?” We all know that it will never happen, but we wish it would because that would get the procedures changed very quickly.

Sexual molestation should not be allowed at the airport. We should be following the lead of The Netherlands on this issue.

The security boss of Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport is calling for an end to endless investment in new technology to improve airline security.

Marijn Ornstein said: “If you look at all the recent terrorist incidents, the bombs were detected because of human intelligence not because of screening … If even a fraction of what is spent on screening was invested in the intelligence services we would take a real step toward making air travel safer and more pleasant.”

In the end, it is we, the traveler, who must protest about these policies. We must hold the TSA accountable and have consistent and equal treatment at all airports. And we must always remember, that it is we, the traveler, who has stopped the terrorists. The TSA has yet to stop a single terrorist since its creation.

There are two great sites to follow on this issue as well. As many people know, I read reddit several times a day. Several redditors have created a website just for this issue. It is called Fly With Dignity. We Won’t Fly are the people behind the National Opt Out Day. Both sites are doing an excellent job of keeping everyone informed of what has happened, what is happening and what might happen.

Finally, let me point out that I am not against having security at airports. What we need is less of what we have, more personal dignity and privacy, and using common sense in the matter. The TSA has always been about the illusion of security and not actually providing any better security. We shouldn’t let our privacy slip away just so a few men can make a couple of bucks off an unsuspecting public. We didn’t freak out twenty years ago, so why are we doing so now? Take a stand now.