TSA starting X-Ray screening of passengers

[ladyskydiver 0]

Posting this here because I can definitely see it becoming a hot topic.

http://www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/screening/backscatter.shtm

Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly! Kiss slowly! Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably. And never regret anything that made you smile.

[nathaniel 0]

Think of it as a business opportunity to develop clothing that shows up as huge boobies, a disproportionate "package", or a political message when viewed in a backscatter device.

My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

[ladyskydiver 0]

I view it as an invasion of privacy and going 1 step too far.

Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly! Kiss slowly! Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably. And never regret anything that made you smile.

[nathaniel 0]

With some filament wire I bet you could turn it on its head, and get a free "massage" from the guards in one fell swoop.

My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

[ladyskydiver 0]

Oh, I'm sure some idiot TSA person will look at an underwire bra and freak out. Don't need to do something stupid to bring it on yourself.

Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly! Kiss slowly! Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably. And never regret anything that made you smile.

[kelpdiver 2]

"Each full body scan produces less than 10 microREM of emission. This is equivalent to the exposure each person receives in about two minutes of airplane flight at altitude or each person receives every 15 minutes from naturally occurring background radiation. "

Can we get an independent confirmation on this fact? Better yet, a running meter inside the chamber?

(I got too many xrays last year)

[quade 4]

Quote

Posting this here because I can definitely see it becoming a hot topic.

http://www.tsa.gov/what_we_do/screening/backscatter.shtm

Meh.

Have you actually LOOKED at the average person boarding an airplane? Trust me, this is not going to be a sexy for anybody to look at.

I actually pity the operators.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[Douva 0]

I'm not concerned with the invasion of privacy issue (look at the sample scans shown in the article--they're not exactly nude photographs), but I am concerned with the fact that the TSA keeps adding layer upon layer to airport security, when most experts agree that a determined, well-trained terrorist can find a way to circumvent virtually any reasonable security measure. To me, that means we're not only on our way to longer lines, longer waits, and more travel hassles; we're also on our way to much less reasonable security measures. At some point we're all going to have to wake up to the fact that there is risk in life, or we're going to give up air travel as we know it.

I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

[dorbie 0]

Looks like they're applying a Sobel filter or similar edge detection to avoid overtly naked images. It's probably a bad idea if you've decided to use the technology since it'll reduce recognizability. Hopefully this is just a viewing mode and they show this for PR purposes.

This technology may not be a big deal for you or I but what about the person with a colostomy bag or other medical issues, do they have a right to privacy?

I went through TSA screening in a kilt once, when I failed the metal detector scan one of the operators got very excited and started acting in an extremely unprofessional manner. I wouldn't like him operating this X-ray imaging machine.

[nathaniel 0]

Quote

Trust me, this is not going to be a sexy for anybody to look at.

Is it real-time? How long till standard procedure becomes "Excuse me, ma'am, I'm going to need to see you shake it."

My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?

[dorbie 0]

Yes it is real-time.

The initial backscatter images that circulated a while ago ago showed the skin beneath the clothing. This seems to do an edge detect image processing operation on that. See attachments.

I've attached the original image and a version were I've run a quick edge detection on the originally released image. You can see it's the sort of thing they've done to the backscatter image. I expect the operator has some control to affect the gain and perhaps other filter parameters.

In my example you can see that you might need several images a keen eye and some additional control over the image to pick out the firearms in the example. The image processing in this case actually helps conceal them.

[dorbie 0]

The really annoying element here is the pretence that you can obscure anatomical features without undermining the purpose of the scan. Those images are very intentionally vague within the outline of the figure. From the example I posted you can see that this can obscure key information and my example hides less than their exeplar images.

Either the operators can reveal more than those PR images imply or the technology has been badly compromised.

[Taikoen 0]

I thought they were employing a similar machine at Heathrow International Airport? It's almost like looking at a naked person from what I understand. I remember them talking about using same-sex operators for the machines.

[champu 1]

Quote

I am concerned with the fact that the TSA keeps adding layer upon layer to airport security, when most experts agree that a determined, well-trained terrorist can find a way to circumvent virtually any reasonable security measure.

If you want to hire people to provide security for low pay, you aren't going to get top notch people. In most other jobs this wouldn't be too big a deal because you can create processes and essentially "engineer out" the incompetencies you can expect to encounter. But in security it's a ridiculous practice because processes that can be documented are processes that can be circumvented.

A little while back now, a collaborative intelligence effort resulted in the apprehension of a group that was planning on using liquid/gel explosives to take down several aircraft. As a result of this discovery liquids and gels in containers larger than 3oz are now considered prohibited items. This ever-expanding list that grows purely in a reactionary manner is worse than what we had before 9/11. The longer the list gets, the more focused screeners will get on looking for items on the list, and nothing beyond that which, in the absence of a list, might have raised suspicion. You know why those people were going to use gel/liquid explosives? Because they weren't on the list of prohibited items at the time.

One thing should have become very clear that day, terrorists are always going to be one step ahead of the TSA, we just have to hope our intelligence communities can stay two steps ahead.

[Skyrad 0]

Its been debated in threads here before. See:

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1010798#1010798

Its no big deal, we have it here in the UK already. I actually volunteer to go through it rather than que for ages. I'm also a Medical Radiation Practitioner and have no concerns about this level of radiation, and I fly on comercial flights two for four times a week.

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[penniless 0]

Quote

Its been debated in threads here before. See:

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=1010798#1010798

Its no big deal, we have it here in the UK already. I actually volunteer to go through it rather than que for ages. I'm also a Medical Radiation Practitioner and have no concerns about this level of radiation, and I fly on comercial flights two for four times a week.

Just because it's no big deal for you, doesn't mean everyone views it the same way.

[ladyskydiver 0]

Thanks for the link...should have done a search.

It's cool that you don't have an issue with it. I, however, do. I do not want someone looking at as close to naked as you can. They're not my SO so they have absolutely no reason to see me that way. And, yeah...they say they'll blur the pic, but how do you know that they are? It's not like they're going to let you see what they're seeing.

And as an aside, I have an issue with the 3oz. bottle crap as well.

Quite frankly, it's getting to be a royal pain in the fucking ass to fly any more. Having to get to the airport up to 2 hours before a domestic flight just to ensure you have time to get through all of the TSA crap is wearing thin. One of these days, the airlines will start to feel the pinch from people who decide that there are other modes of transport - including driving. (Obviously, you'd be stuck taking a plane to fly overseas...unless you went by boat. )

Life is short! Break the rules! Forgive quickly! Kiss slowly! Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably. And never regret anything that made you smile.

[Gene03 0]

Starting to feel the squeeze?
It's just the continuance of our eroding rights.
We haven't seen anything yet.

“The only fool bigger than the person who knows it all is the person who argues with him.

Stanislaw Jerzy Lec quotes (Polish writer, poet and satirist 1906-1966)

[mnskydiver688 0]

I have thought about the erosion of our rights many times before. We are living less and less private lives. With more technology being used than ever before in our daily lives our privacy will continue to disappear. I fear that at some point we are going to reach a critical point and the s**t will hit the fan. I agree that we haven't seen anything yet. We are traveling down a dangerous and disturbing path.

Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

[Gene03 0]

It's always the same old song and dance isn't it?

If you aren't doing anything wrong you have nothing to fear.

Don't worry about it, somebody in the future will invent something or do something about it.

You are a lunatic, fringe paranoid idiot and I don't want to even hear your opinions because anyone who thinks like you do is crazy.

Where is your tinfoil hat?

I would like to think that we are more intelligent to buy into these rebuttals but lately I have serious doubts.

“The only fool bigger than the person who knows it all is the person who argues with him.

Stanislaw Jerzy Lec quotes (Polish writer, poet and satirist 1906-1966)

[mnskydiver688 0]

Does a tinfoil hat work? I might have to try that. You must have personal experience considering your suggestion. Thank you for your words of encouragement. I will be sure to keep in mind that based off one comment you have found it necessary to make judgments about who I am on a fundamental level. Good luck with that approach to people.

Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

[Gene03 0]

It was not a personal attack in any way, shape or form.

My replies were examples of how our opinions are perceived by other people. And the knee-jerk reactions.

I was pointing out how folks are lumped into Freudian categories based on our beliefs.

Freud was/is a very dangerous, sexual obsessed, educated idiot. And he did a lot of cocaine. I do not want to mirror his beliefs at all.

I do agree with you.

“The only fool bigger than the person who knows it all is the person who argues with him.

Stanislaw Jerzy Lec quotes (Polish writer, poet and satirist 1906-1966)

[mnskydiver688 0]

Now I understand the reasoning behind what you said in that post. Anyway, if people are not worried about their own privacy getting invaded they will be at some point or another. Sooner or later theirs will be compromised. As mentioned before terrorists will continue to find ways to work around security measures and as long as national policy dictates that we deal with that by implementing reactionary systems and procedures the people in charge will continue to find new and creative ways of invading our privacy.

Sky Canyon Wingsuiters

[Gene03 0]

You may find this interesting.
http://www.mercola.com/2007/mar/6/freud-was-used-to-control-the-masses.htm

“The only fool bigger than the person who knows it all is the person who argues with him.

Stanislaw Jerzy Lec quotes (Polish writer, poet and satirist 1906-1966)

[warpedskydiver 0]

Frank Zappa was a prophet.