Just Say No to TSA Full-Body Scanning

[babylonsister]

http://jeffreygoldberg.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/02/just_say_no_to_tsa_fullbody_sc.php

Just Say No to TSA Full-Body Scanning

18 Feb 2009 11:38 am


The TSA now wants to see you naked. There's a way out of this -- demand a pat-down. It's less creepy, and less invasive. Far less invasive, in fact, because TSA officers have no idea how to conduct actual pat-downs. The frisking they do now is entirely symbolic. As I've pointed out in the past, frisking is only useful if it's invasive, which is to say, clever terrorists -- and we know that the TSA, at least under the rule of Kip Hawley, wasn't actually hunting for clever terrorists -- hide weapons in their anuses (just as prisoners do), and behind the scrotum. Small items, such as razor blades, can be hidden in the mouth, or between toes. Female terrorists have even more options. I'm not, by the way, encouraging terrorists to hide knives in their nether regions. I'm just pointing out that, as ever, TSA has left a giant loophole open for anyone clever enough to find it.

Related thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5079971&mesg_id=5079971

[blue_onyx]

1. I think I would prefer this

If I had to chose between being pat-down or full-Body scan, I would go with the full-body scan. At least this way, you don't have to get felt up.

[pitohui]

9. you would prefer to have a digital image of your naked body out of your control forever?

i've been patted down, it's done over clothing and it is nowhere near the massive invasion of this device, which creates a digital image of your naked unclothed body in all its imperfection -- the lady TSA spokeswoman who had it done when the device was first produced soon saw images of HER naked body (including her lopsided middle-aged boobs) spread all over the internet -- they were even published on some threads on DU back in the day

anyone who would choose this, rather than a patdown, is either massively un-informed or else an exhibitionist -- you are giving up control over a photo of your own naked body and have to take it on faith that it "might" be destroyed rather than stored

once the image of your naked body is taken, photographed, and recorded, it's out of your control forever -- your MOTHER should have told you that

yes, they say they'll erase it, that's what guys always say when they make an excuse to take images of your naked body

you would be an idiot to submit to this when there is an alternative offered (the patdown) which preserves your privacy and your dignity

i'm forever astounded at willingly people who don't fly, or who seldom fly, are happen to give up the rights of people who do fly




maybe your body is perfect now and you don't mind being stripped naked in public (which is what this device does) for strangers to slobber over, but one day you'll be older and perhaps have implants, medical devices, or just extra bulges that don't need to be aired for the entertainment of employees at the TSA, the airport, the airline, or even the readers of kinky websites

your mother wasn't crazy when she pointed out that once you allow someone to take your nekkid picture, it's out there, to potentially haunt you forever

it's just simple good common sense

take the patdown

remember the scandal of the surveillance guys at casinos who made up the websites/CDs of staring down female casino patron's low cut blouses -- well, this reveals a hella lot more than your cleavage!

[mmonk]

24. As a citizen that should not be under suspicion, I object to both.

Terrorists will get around the sheep lines. The thing is, they already hit the targets they worked so hard for so long to hit (how many attempts on the World Trade Center alone?).

[Wildewolfe]

2. Maybe I'm just a tech geek...

but I have far less problem with a scanner that can detect hidden weapons anywhere on/in the body than being patted down. Yeah there are creeps that will get kicks out of viewing the scanner image but I suspect the kicks will be short lived.

It's big brotherish, but it's an impersonal technology applied to a solution of finding stashed weapons. It would be better I think if the software could do the analysis rather than requiring a human operator to do it, but I suspect that will come down the road.

Probably an unpopular position.

[Zywiec]

3. I think a pat-down is more creepy... n/t

[backscatter712]

4. To hell with that.

If the TSA can't find a way to keep things secure without electronic strip searches or the latex glove treatment, fuck 'em.

We've gotten by for years without all this shit.

[Siwsan]

5. So, it would be either, or?

They don't pat down every passenger, now. Are they going to make one, or the other, mandatory? I've been patted down, twice, at airports. Didn't really bother me, at all. I'd rather that, than the body scan. That just seems so very intrusive and excessive. I mean, how many terrorist types have they actually caught trying to smuggle weapons on to planes, since this whole crackdown started??

[seabeyond]

6. i cant believe the people already on this thread willing to reduce self to strip search

for a little illsusionary false sense of security.

i stopped using airports a couple years ago with lost rights. i refuse to give my money when the moment i step in an airport i no longer have any rights. if i cant drive it, i dont need to go.

[Siwsan]

7. I prefer Amtrak

I've done 3 cross country trips on the train, and more trips to Chicago than I can count. If you have the time, it's the best way to travel, IMHO.

[seabeyond]

8. never have. will check it out. we are DRIVING lol from texas to cape cod this summer

we will just take our time and look at all the things to see.

[valerief]

12. Definitely! And you can get up and stretch your legs. nt

[Zywiec]

19. If i cant drive it, i don't need to go.

For people who actually enjoy seeing something in the world, you most likely need to visit an airport. I do hate going through security, but it is not going to ruin a trip to Europe!

:toast:

[barbtries]

10. i think it should be outlawed

it is a horrendous invasion of privacy

[Initech]

11. I saw one of those being tested in Charlotte last year.

The idea of getting a full body scan at the airport freaks me the fuck out. An MRI on the other hand, that's a different story. But at the airport, no thanks.

[I Have A Dream]

13. I wonder if we'll see more males saying that they'd rather have...

the scan and more females saying that they'd rather have the pat-down. That's my guess...

[babylonsister]

14. Haha! Depends on the age, fer sure! nt

[derby378]

15. Just say no to the TSA

No full-body scans, no intrusive pat-downs. Just a walk-through metal detector, a wand if it's needed, and a K9 to sniff me over if that's needed as well. I thought we put Obama in charge. Why the hell is this TSA nonsense still going on?

[seabeyond]

16. i am with you. i dont get the people, and so many, willing to succumb to this bullshit. n/t

[KansDem]

17. Here are some body scans...

Oh My Gov!

Looks like the faces were blurred...

[seabeyond]

18. these are not the pictures i saw when there was news stories and earlier internet

stories.

[KansDem]

21. More like this one?

[seabeyond]

22. yes. there is a big difference between the two. so... why?

because i trust NO ONE anymore, my point is, are they showing those other pictures when really this is what it is, but they figure those littler hard to see prints will make people more comfortable, ergo.... lying.

thanks for digging up the picture

[NNN0LHI]

20. I don't like people putting their greasy hands on me

I will take the scan thank you.

Don

[TXDemGal]

23. So won't the terra-ists just study which airports have the body scanners

and avoid flying through them? And our so-called media makes it even easier for them, listing several airports that already use the scanners.