Excuse me, that’s my naked body you’re looking at
August 10th, 2008 by Alex Pickett in Flashbacks & Updates, The Morning PapersSo, it finally happens: Airport security has gotten so ridiculous, and we’ve become such fearful little hamsters, that by the end of the year, we’ll all be submitting to electronic strip searches.
I don’t want to linger on the civil liberties questions raised by the Tampa International Airport’s purchase of four body imaging machines. It wouldn’t do much good anyway, TSA already purchased them.
But if you still believe TSA’s good intentions, let me point out three things that seemed to slip by St. Petersburg Times reporters.
First, a quote by our local Transportation Security Administration spokesman John Van Dyke:
“Our goal is to be proficient with them before the Super Bowl,” in Tampa in February, he said.
Mr. Van Dyke seems to imply that these will help keep Tampa and her tourists safe during the Super Bowl. But those scanners would only scan travelers leaving Tampa, not those coming in for the event.
Second, another TSA spokesman, Christopher White, tells the Times that they will protect passenger’s privacy:
Images are deleted after viewing, and officers can’t “save, store, print or transmit” them, said TSA spokesman Christopher White.
Then tell me — how did the Times get a photo for the front of their Metro section? This is not even going into the fact that nearly everyone has cell phone cameras these days.
Third, White claims the images are detailed, but do not show nudity:
He describes the images as robotic, like someone in a tight-fitting leotard. “You can see detail, but it’s not a naked picture,” White said.
So, do you mind telling me what those nipple-like dots are on the breasts of the woman pictured on the Times website?
August 10th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
I’m not a doctor, Alex, but I suspect those are “nipples.”
Do the Israelis, who have impressively good airport security, do this? Other than the important factor of scale, why can’t we do what they do?
August 11th, 2008 at 10:09 am
not happy about this at all.
August 11th, 2008 at 10:55 am
What this country needs is an enema.
“A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.”
Thomas Jefferson
“When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”
Thomas Jefferson
August 11th, 2008 at 11:01 am
more disturbing is that it looks like the person in the st pete times photo is peeing while being scanned…
and i’ll jump on the sexism train here, too. why didn’t they also show a picture of a guy being scanned? can you see more than they are letting on? so, xrayed boobs are ok, but not xrayed frank and beans? whats the deal? was some dude at the times giggling about xrayed boobs while doing page layouts or was this the only photo provided by the scanner folks? i demand answers.
August 11th, 2008 at 11:59 am
From today’s Sue Carlton column in the Times:
“Images are detailed enough to show distinct and particular personal parts. Guys, this means you, too. A sample male photo supplied by the TSA might not see print in a family newspaper. “
August 11th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
This effing sucks. What other freedoms can be taken away from us if airport security is allowed to look underneath our clothes? They might as well make us strip down right there.
August 11th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
I’m all for it! Picture the only long term consequence …a new porn category! Right beside Tanning Salon, Upskirt, Fisting and now, Airport Security pictures. Great! This will be a real boon to the child porn industry we always hear about. I don’t know about you, but I would LOVE to have one of those airport screener folks check out the “non picture” visual view of my little daughters body. And I’m sure nothing would ever happen allowing the images to get out. I mean, it’s as easy as not allowing baggage handlers to steal from luggage…
August 11th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Oh, wow. I didn’t even think of that Reality. I smell lawsuit!
August 11th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
and reality, lets not forget that the TSA just recently had a laptop stolen with 33,000 individuals super detailed information for the express line (think ssn, dob, retinal scans, fingerprints).
as far as i am concerned, with that type of breech, the entire express line program (who people pay $165 / year for) should be immediately shut down.
August 11th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
frank and beans!
frank and beans!
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