TSA
The Touch, Squeeze, and Assault Transportation Security Administration is a shitty display of security theater, which does nothing to make us safer while simultaneously violating everyone who wants to ride a plane (this is why we need high speed rail, people; though that doesn't necessarily mean it's safer[1]). It's known for massively overreacting to everything, having never stopped a terrorist attack. In other words, it's a useless funnel of our money, and yet another example of our wasteful response to 9/11. Liberal[2][3] and conservative[4][5] sources agree that the TSA sucks. It has been noted for being not cost-effective, overspending, and a waste of taxpayer money.[6][7]
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Effectiveness
A 2001 paper[6] found that it's questionable that the TSA helps to prevent similar terrorist attacks to 9/11. The TSA director was reassigned in 2015 due to his administration failing to detect fake bombs and weapons in a test by the Department of Homeland Security 95% of the time.[8] The US GAO (Government Accountability Office) actually had to step in to make suggestions that the TSA actually provide accurate and sufficient data on performance.[9]
TSA's SPOT program has been found to be ineffective by GAO[10] and Nature.[11] The SPOT program has been criticized as racial profiling by the ACLU.[12]
Body scanners used by the TSA, the Rapiscan Secure 1000 full-body scanner, are not good at catching contraband or illegal weapons and can easily be bypassed.[13] The TSA has ended their contract with the maker of Rapiscan body scanners in 2013 due to the privacy risk posed by the machines.[14] Another body scanner, the millimeter-wave machine has regular false positives; it can mistake sweat as weaponry.[15] X-ray body scanners might increase cancer risk.[16] These scanners have been banned in European countries.[16] Finally the TSA removed the X-ray body scanners in 2013.[17]
Sexual assault and harassment
Two TSA screeners were fired for a sexual assault scheme against men in 2015.[18] A former TSA employee stated that sexual assaults against passengers was common.[19] At LaGuardia Airport, 2015, a TSA agent was arrested for sexual assaulting a woman.[20] A female TSA employee's criminal charges over sexual assault at the Denver International Airport were dropped in 2014.[21]
Rapiscan body scanners gave TSA agents low-res naked photos of screened passengers to inspect for weapons.[14] It was normal for TSA officers to share low-res nudes of passengers without consent.[22]
RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) had to write a guide for victims of sexual assault regarding the TSA.[23] Angela T. Rye, a journalist filmed her frightening pat down where the TSA agent was very close to grabbing her private parts.[24] Aida Rodriguez, a rape victim has said that the TSA pat down made her feel incredibly uncomfortable.[25] Sarah Beaulieu, a survivor of sexual assault, broke down in tears when faced with the prospect of a TSA screening.[26] Gina Miller has recounted her sexual assault by a TSA agent.[27]
In 2010, a new pat-down method included breast and buttocks groping, and examining genitals.[28] In 2017, the TSA introduced a new even-more invasive pat-down method, of which they warned police departments about increased complaints.[29]
Neglect of duty
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All seven master keys used to unlock luggage were cracked in 2015 and the TSA doesn't seem to care.[30]
It took seven years for the TSA to finally respond to a journalist's Freedom of Information Act request.[31] The TSA disclosed data on passenger complaints, four years after the data was requested.[32]
External links
- See the Wikipedia article on Transportation Security Administration.
- TSA official website
Their social media:
References
- The High-Speed Rail Attack in France: What are the security challenges for protecting rail systems? (Aug 26, 2015, 12:11 ET) Mineta Transportation Institute.
- Airport Security: Astoundingly Expensive and 95 Percent Ineffective by Kriston Capps. CityLab
- Acting TSA director reassigned after screeners failed tests to detect explosives, weapons by Eric Bradner and Rene Marsh CNN
- The TSA Was and Is a Gigantic Mistake by Brittany Hunter. Foundation for Economic Education
- TSA Boondoggles: High Costs, Low Effectiveness, But It's Only Your Money by George Leef Forbes
- Assessing the Risks, Costs and Benefits of United States Aviation Security Measures by M.G. Stewart and J. Mueller
- The Naked Truth about TSA Spending by Chris Edwards CATO Institute
- TSA Director Reassigned in Wake of Security Failures by Justin Fishel and Mike Levine ABC
- Aviation Security PDF GAO
- Aviation Security: TSA Should Limit Future Funding for Behavior Detection Activities GAO
- Intent to deceive? PDF Nature
- TSA Refusing to Release Documents About Spot Program’s Effectiveness, Racial Profiling Impact ACLU
- Security Analysis of a Full-Body Scanner PDF
- TSA ends contract with Rapiscan, maker of full-body scanner by Hugo Martin LA Times
- Sweating Bullets: Body Scanners Can See Perspiration as a Potential Weapon by Michael Grabell and Christian Salewski. Propublica
- U.S. Government Glossed Over Cancer Concerns As It Rolled Out Airport X-Ray Scanners by Michael Grabell Propublica
- TSA Removes X-Ray Body Scanners from Airports by Mark Schoofs Propublica
- Two TSA Officers Fired for Scheme to Grope Attractive Men at Denver Airport by Andrew Blankstein and Phil Helsel. NBC News
- Former TSA Agent: Groping Scandal Is Business as Usual by Jason Edward Harrington. Time
- TSA agent accused of sexual assault at LaGuardia CBS News
- No Criminal Charges Against TSA Agent Over Pat-Down At DIA CBS Local
- 8 Things You Don't (Want To) Know About TSA Checkpoints by Robert Evans and Anonymous Cracked
- Airport Security for Survivors RAINN
- Dear TSA: The country is not safer because you grab vaginas by Angela T. Rye CNN
- TSA Body Search Leaves CNN’s Angela Rye In Tears 3:16 The Young Turks
- What TSA Screenings Mean For Sexual Assault Survivors by Sarah Beaulieu wbur
- My sexual assault by the TSA by Gina Miller Renew America
- Changes in Airport Passenger Screening Technologies and Procedures: Frequently Asked Question PDF by Bart Elias Congressional Research Service
- TSA Introducing New, More Invasive Pat-Down Method by Mary Beth Quirk Consumerist
- TSA Doesn't Care That its Luggage Locks Have Been Hacked by Jenna McLaughlin The Intercept
- The TSA Releases Data on Air Marshal Misconduct, 7 Years After We Asked by by Michael Grabell Propublica
- TSA Reveals Passenger Complaints … Four Years Later by by Michael Grabell Propublica