The TSA's full-body scanners never seemed like a very good idea. They're a great way to unwittingly show your naked body to government officials, for one. They're also insanely easy to trick. We've suspected as much for some time now, but a team of university researchers just confirmed some scary security flaws.
The TSA has announced that the "naked image" full-body scanners at airports that have caused so much controversy are no more. The scanners have been removed from all of America's airports. Replacing it are machines that show 'generic images' of the human body.
After years of criticism and debate, plus a Washington D.C. circuit court ordering that the TSA accept public comment, you can finally weigh in about those scanners that not-so-subtly undress you.
The Transportation Security Administration has announced that it will remove the controversial "naked image" body scanners from US airports because developers can't write software to make the images less revealing.
Federal investigators "identified vulnerabilities in the screening process" at domestic airports using so-called "full body scanners," according to a classified internal Department of Homeland Security report.
To protest what he feels is harassment from the TSA, John Brennan dropped trou as he went through airport security in the Portland airport last night. I mean, he got ass naked. There's got to be a better way to practice social disobedience.
If you've been on the internet today, you probably saw (along with the iPad 3) that those fancy TSA naked body scanners can be easily duped by just carrying something to the side over you body (in a side pocket or an attached pouch). Wait... that's all it takes? Apparently so. Even the TSA doesn't deny it.
It's not every day that we see something as scary as this. Those fancy, expensive, TSA body scanners that blast you with radiation and can see you naked in the name of security? It would seem it's easier to slip things past them than metal detectors.
This is nefarious-sounding: The Department of Homeland Security "spent millions of dollars on mobile body scanner technology that could be used at railways, stadiums, and elsewhere," according to a trove of documents obtained via FOIA by the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
Brian Sodergren, the man behind the National Opt-Out Day movement is currently traveling by car—effectively opting-out of Opt-Out Day. You're currently pissing off a TSA agent by demonstrating your principles. I really hate both of you.
Can the body scanners used by the TSA save images? It seems unreasonable to geeks that a computer cannot save any images at all—ever. But according to a statement made to Gizmodo by the TSA, that's the case.
What exactly are full body scanners? What are these health concerns surrounding them? What do you need to know? Here are the basics.
Responding to outcry about the TSA's scanning, Orlando's Sanford Airport has invoked a little-known clause that allows them to replace the TSA with one of five approved third-party security firms, citing "more accountability and better customer service." Here's hoping. [WDBO]
Bad news for the sanctity of your junk! While federal agencies have defended body scanning that looks under your clothes by saying the images are disposed of immediately, that turns out to not be the case at all.
Click to viewSure, the TSA's nudey body scanners work great at detecting underwear bombs. But what about smuggling contraband in your penis? I think you can see where this is going. [Landline.tv]