Last fall, it was reported that the Transportation Security Administration was moving its controversial backscatter full-body scanners out of busier airports and moving them to smaller ones. Now, the agency says it is getting rid of these scanners altogether. [More]
full body scanners
Feds Say They’ll Study Safety Of Airport Full Body Scanners Yet Again
By 12.21.12
If you’re one to eye those full-body scanners warily at the airport, wondering what kind of stuff is zipping and zapping around your organs, you’re not the only one. The Department of Homeland Security is responding to critics who question the safety of the instruments by launching another study to check out the devices used by the Transportation Security Administration. [More]
Petition Calls On White House To Require TSA To Seek Public Comment On Full-Body Scanners
By 7.11.12
Almost exactly a year ago, a U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the Transportation Security Administration had, in its rush to roll out full-body scanners at airports, broken its own rules by not publishing the policy in the Federal Register and allowing the public to comment on it before putting it into action. At the time, the court expected the TSA to “act promptly” and seek public comment. It hasn’t done so, and now a new petition seeks to have the White House require the TSA to do so. [More]
Study: Airport Security Full-Body Scanners Won’t Zap You With Dangerous Radiation
By 6.11.12
If you’re imagining your organs being zapped through with invisible rays of unhealthy radiation while standing in an airport security full-body scanner, well, stop that. A new independent study into the devices used by the Transportation Security Administration found that they do not expose passengers to dangerous levels of radiation. [More]
Man Claims You Can Beat TSA Scanners By Placing Contraband Along The Side Of Your Body
By 3.7.12
Since the TSA began rolling out its full-body scanners a few years ago, much has been made about possible safety and invasion of privacy concerns, but one blogger claims the devices are completely ineffective because all you need to do to sneak something past security is to place it along the side of your body. [More]
Study: Radiation From TSA's Full-Body Scanners Poses "No Significant Threat"
By 3.29.11
In a new study that will surely be argued and dissected by both sides of the full-body scanner debate, researchers claim that the risk from the ionizing radiation to which travelers are exposed in these scanners “would be extremely small, even among frequent flyers” and that there “is no significant threat of radiation from the scans.” [More]
Seattle-Area Restaurant Refuses To Serve TSA Agents
By 2.22.11
Fed up with what he views as crappy treatment from the TSA, the owner of a restaurant near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport has decided to put all TSA agents on his No-Eat List. [More]
Full-Body Scan Privacy Law Gets One Step Closer To Reality
By 2.15.11
Back in December, we wrote about the law being proposed by Senator Chuck Schumer that would make it a crime to distribute or save images taken as part of an airport security scan. That law has come one step closer to becoming a reality after being unanimously accepted as an amendment to the FAA Reauthorization Bill being considered by the Senate. [More]
TSA Testing Less-Revealing Full-Body Scanner Software
By 2.2.11
If you’re one of the many travelers who aren’t exactly thrilled at the idea of having the intimate details of your anatomy displayed on a monitor at the airport security checkpoint, here’s some promising news. The TSA is testing out an upgrade to some of its full-body scanners that could put an end to incidents like this or this. [More]
Terrorists Beware: Toledo Express Airport Gets A Full-Body Scanner
By 12.20.10
‘Tis the season to give, and it seems Toledo Express Airport in Ohio is the newest recipient of some fancy holiday largess: This week it was announced that the regional airport, boasting five departing flights per day, will receive a full-body scanner. Our tax dollars at work! [More]
UPDATE: TSA Says Pilots Can Skip Scanners & Pat-Downs
By 11.19.10
Earlier today, TSA chief John Pistole hinted on Good Morning America that airline pilots might soon be able to skirt the agency’s stricter screening procedures. Now one of the unions that had recently told pilots to refuse being scanned says a deal has actually been reached. [More]
Cancer Survivor Flight Attendant Forced To Show Prosthetic Breast During TSA Pat-Down
By 11.19.10
After 32 years on the job as a flight attendant, not to mention being a breast cancer survivor, a North Carolina woman says airport screeners went too far when they told her to remove her prosthetic breast during a recent pat-down. [More]
Pilots Might Soon Get A Pass On Stricter Security Measures
By 11.19.10
As we wrote last week, two of the nation’s largest airline pilots unions had recently told their members to refuse full-body scanners at airport security, arguing that pilots have already undergone rigorous background checks before getting their jobs. Now the head of the TSA says their could soon be a rule change that would treat pilots differently than passengers. [More]
Airports Looking To Replace TSA Screeners With Contractors
By 11.18.10
In case you hadn’t heard, there’s been a slight bit of public push-back to the TSA’s increased use of full-body scanners and invasive pat-downs at security checkpoints. And at least one airport in Florida is telling the TSA “no thanks,” opting to use a private contractor instead. [More]
Group Of Reddit Editors Make Public Stand Against Grabby TSA Pat-Downs & Revealing Full-Body Scanners
By 11.17.10
There are few sites on the internet more tapped into the zeitgeist than the hive mind over at Reddit. So it should come as little surprise to those familiar with Reddit that a group of the site’s editors — or Redditors — have banded together to create a forum for those who feel less than enthusiastic about the TSA’s roll-out of full-body scanners and its “enhanced” pat-down procedures. [More]
Woman Says She Was Cuffed And Booted From Airport For Questioning Body Scanners
By 11.11.10
Meg McLain claims that the TSA ripped up her US Airways plane ticket and called police who restrained her in a chair, cuffed her, and escorted her out of the airport after she opted out of the backscatter can. Her radio interview describing the incident is at 390,000 hits and growing, and the TSA has posted CCTV of the incident on their blog. [More]
TSA Disputes "No Scanner For Me" Pilot's Description Of Pat-Down
By 10.21.10
Yesterday we brought you the story of the ExpressJet pilot who refused to go through a full-body scanner or submit to a pat-down at Memphis International Airport. Now the TSA is saying that the pilot’s characterization of the pat-down isn’t accurate. [More]
Updated List Of Airports With Full-Body Scanners
By 9.17.10
Just in case you had thought/hoped/prayed that the use of full-body scanners at airports was going to be a passing fad, you should know that the devices continue to sprout up at security checkpoints everywhere. In just the last few months, seven more airports have joined the roster. [More]
