The Transportation Security Administration has discovered a major new threat, and is targeting it with all methods at its disposal. No, not terrorists. The agency is going after two bloggers, Steve Frischling and Chris Elliott, for exposing its whopper of a policy document, issued Christmas Day in the wake of that day’s failed terrorist attack.
homeland security
TSA Takes Baby Away From Mother?
By 10.16.09
UPDATE: The TSA has posted their CCTV video of the incident from 9 different angles. In the video, the child is never picked up by TSA agents or removed from the mother’s sight.
What Your Homeland Security Travel File Looks Like
By 1.6.09
Homeland Security’s dossier on all your the travel you’ve ever taken looks something like this.
Homeland Security Boss: Before 9/12/01 Hijackings Were "Regular, Routine"
By 12.16.08
BoingBoing’s Joel Johnson recently interviewed departing Homeland Security boss Michael Chertoff — and we all know how much you love “security theater”…
TSA Martinet Claims Her Unpublished Rules Trump Real Ones
By 8.20.08
TSA, can you at least train your agents to do their jobs properly? We’d appreciate it even more if you’d discipline (read: fire) those who go all stupidly power-mad and think they have to “win” every encounter, even when it means making up new rules on the spot. Here’s a story of a soldier who lost a day of leave because one of your agents caused so much trouble. In the end, the soldier says he’s happy with the outcome—”Using standard Consumerist customer service doctrine (polite, patient, proper channels and then EECB), I won”—but we’re still floored by how difficult you made his trip home. Oh, and NWA, you were no help either.
Things You Should Memorize When Flying Without Identification
By 7.23.08
You may be familiar with the TSA’s new rules that went into effect June 21st regarding travelers who try to fly without identification. These travelers are essentially made part of a mini game show where they are the subject of all the questions. Your prize, if you answer correctly, is that you are allowed to board your flight. If you need to travel without ID, Wired magazine has assembled some items which if committed to memory, might help you get through the (game show) process more easily.
Pentagon Looking To Invent "Kill Switch" For Airplanes
By 6.13.08
It has been nearly 7 years since 9/11 and the government is still pulling ideas out of its ass to help keep us safe. Wired reports that in a request for proposals issued this week, the Pentagon announced that they are looking for ways to “safely divert an aircraft in the air or stop and/or disable an aircraft on the ground,” i.e., a kill switch. More, inside…
UPS Won't Deliver Woman's Envelope Until She Shows Her Green Card
By 5.13.08
Caught somewhere between post 9/11 security concerns and personal rights is Cristina Bustos. According to the Palm Beach Post, her relatives from Mexico shipped her an envelope that contains the birth certificates for 2 of her relatives that live in Florida. But instead of receiving the envelope, Cristina, a legal resident, received a phone call saying that her envelope was being detained in Louisville and that “she needs to identify herself further before receiving them.” Later, a UPS employee told Christina that she had to email a copy of her green card if she wanted to get her envelope. Details, inside…
Court Rules Customs Agents Can Collect Data From Laptops & Cellphones Without Cause
By 5.7.08
Some visitors and citizens of the United States may be shocked to learn that their computers, cell phones and data devices are now subject to search and data retrieval upon entry into the U.S., even without cause or suspicion. On April 19th, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that all computers and data devices are the same as luggage in that they can be searched without cause, and that all collected data may be stored indefinitely. More, inside…
TSA Traveler Website Exposed Private Citizens To Risk Of ID Theft
By 1.15.08
The Transportation Security Administration’s traveler redress website—which was launched to give travelers a way to get their names removed from the government’s toddler-centric no fly list—operated for months without proper security in place, leaving citizens who submitted detailed personal information to it wide open to identity theft. Gee, we’re this close to thinking that the TSA is run by a bunch of grotesquely incompetent, slug-like bureaucrats.
How To Request Your Homeland Security Travel Dosiier
By 9.26.07
In its efforts to combat terrorism, fight human trafficking, and bust drug dealers, the Department of Homeland Security compiles a large database of where you go, who you travel with, what you read and more. If you’re curious about what this record contains, you can request a copy of your file under the Freedom Of Information Act. Unsecure Flight hosts two form letters for submitting this request, along with instructions for doing so.
Howto: Get Your Name Off The No-Fly List
By 2.22.07
The Department of Homeland Security has finally woken up, and now admits that the No-Fly List has its problems.
If The Times Is Treason, We’re Heresy
By 6.27.06
The New York Times might be a left-wing propaganda machine hell-bent on sowing villainy and communism amongst the American populace, but treasonous? Well, that’s what the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee says, and he wants to see The Old Gray Lady hang for its crimes against The State.
AT&T Owns Your Booty
By 6.23.06
In a followup to “AT&T: All Your Phone Are Belong to Us“, the SF Gate interviewed some privacy wonks who say:
AT&T: All Your Phone Are Belong to Us
By 6.22.06
If you’re an AT&T customer, you have until this Friday to switch.
The News; Fitter, Better, Happier, More Productive
By 6.19.06
• Homeland Security Incorporated; running domestic defense like a business means capitalizing on fear for the unscrupulous. [NYT]
Telemarketers Target Homeland Security
By 6.16.06
Maybe now they’ll crack down on the telemarketers. After all that’s the hotline, the hotline for the Department of Homeland Security. Gotta secure the homeland from the Space Invaders and the Centipedes. Not a moment to waste for time-share condominiums.
