Know Your Options at the Airport
This is intended as a guide to procedures and technologies you may encounter in your travels. Much of the information here is based on DHS internal policy – not law – so it is subject to change and inconsistent application. If you encounter different policies at the airport or feel your rights are being violated, please contact the ACLU.This guide is not intended to provide specific legal advice. Please consult with an attorney if you seek legal advice.
Scanning Many airports now require passengers to go through a scanner that uses advanced imaging technology. The scanner uses radiation to provide agents with an electronic image of your naked body. Although TSA says that the capability to store and transmit images of passengers' bodies will not normally be activated, the agency requires this functionality in all the airport scanners it purchases.
These scanners are known by a variety of names:
* "Advanced Imaging Technology" (AIT) scanners
* "Whole Body Imaging" (WBI) scanners
* "full-body" scanners
* "strip-search" scanners
The scanners use "backscatter" or "millimeter wave" radiation to see through your clothes. A TSA agent in another room will see an image of your body that could include a revealing look at your entire body, including breasts, genitals, buttocks, and external medical devices.
Option: Ask not to go through this scanner You can tell the TSA agent that you do not wish to go through the scanner. TSA agents are required under TSA policy to honor your request, but might try to encourage or pressure you to go through anyway. To be as clear as possible, say, "I opt out." If you opt out, you will be subject to a “standard pat-down.”You also have the right to opt your children out of the scan.
The "standard pat-down" The TSA's "standard pat-down procedure" is now a more invasive form of the pat-down search that you might have experienced in the past.
TSA says that during the new standard pat-down, a screener of the same sex will examine your head, shirt collar area, and waistband, and may use either the front or back of his or her hands to feel your body, including buttocks, around breasts, and between the legs, feeling up to the top of the thigh. Women in tight skirts that don't allow an agent to feel the thigh area may be asked to remove the skirt in a private screening area and will be given a gown or towel to put on.
Option: Let TSA know about sensitive areas Tell TSA agents about things such as injuries or conditions that could cause you pain if certain parts of your body are touched or pressed, as well as any medical devices that could be dislodged by a search, or any other reason that TSA agents should be careful when touching your body.
Option:Ask to be patted down in a private location
If you are uncomfortable being patted down in front of other passengers, you can request that TSA agents take you to a private area.
The "resolution pat-down"
If an "anomaly" is detected during the pat-down--or when you go through the AIT scanner-- you will be subjected to a "resolution pat-down." TSA agents will take you to a private area and do a more intense pat-down, which includes using the front of the agent's hands for a more thorough search, including the groin area.
Option: Ask to take a witness with you.
If you are taken to a private area for a "resolution pat-down" search, you can ask to bring a witness with you, or ask TSA to provide a witness for you. This search should also be conducted by a person of the same gender.
Other Things to Know
Traveling with Children
While you may opt your children out of an airport scan, there is no exemption for children from the pat-down searches. TSA says it must “screen everyone, regardless of age (even babies).”
MUCH MORE FROM ACLU...KNOW YOUR RIGHTS at.....
http://www.aclu.org/print/technology-and-liberty/know-your-options-airport
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