bodyscanners posts
by Jessica Festa (RSS feed) (7 months ago)
Oct 19th, 2012 at 1:00PM: For all those who are against having to go through X-ray body scanners at airport security, you'll be happy to know some are now being removed. During the past few weeks, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has been quietly switching them out for safer radiation machines.
While the main goal of the change is to speed up the lines at security checkpoints in major airports, the ...
by McLean Robbins (RSS feed) (1 year ago)
Jul 1st, 2011 at 2:30PM: Workers for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) from locations around the country are reporting higher-than-usual rates of cancer, strokes and heart disease amongst employees who work on or near new full-body scanners.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C. recently obtained information under the Freedom of Information Act that shows TSA employees at Boston's ...
by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) (2 years ago)
Dec 16th, 2010 at 3:00PM: It's time for you to drag your screaming kids, annoying spouse and endless amounts of overstuffed bags through the airport, as you find your way over the river and through the woods. Thanksgiving is behind us, and that's the really ugly time to travel, but Christmas is no picnic either. The gate areas and bars will be crowded, and it's going to be awfully hard for you to be happy while darting ...
by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) (2 years ago)
Dec 9th, 2010 at 12:30PM:
She might not have been the biggest name on the show, but former Baywatch actress Donna D'Errico seems to think someone remembers her. She believes she was singled out by the TSA for a full body scan because of ... well ... her body. She was the Playboy centerfold once upon a time, after all.
According to SlateV, D'Errico is "outraged" over this and follows Khloe Kardashian's televised ...
by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) (2 years ago)
Nov 29th, 2010 at 8:00AM:
When I finally crawled out of bed and caffeinated Saturday morning, I made the rounds on Twitter and found a bold statement by travel journalist Christopher Elliott: "Thanks to TSA, 2011 could be a flat year for travel". Despite the digging he did, I'm just not buying it. Passenger inconvenience, especially when it comes to leisure trips, isn't likely to have a major effect on the travel ...
by Heather Poole (RSS feed) (2 years ago)
Nov 26th, 2010 at 9:30AM:
The following video was created for parents traveling with small kids who might be a little nervous about subjecting their children to the new TSA procedures. Regardless of how you may feel about the new enhanced security measures, there's no need for children to be scared. My son will explain to them what a pat down is and even share a few tips. But first a few things the TSA would like you ...
by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) (2 years ago)
Nov 24th, 2010 at 3:00PM:
The uproar over TSA body scanners and pat-downs has hit every corner of the aviation world, from passengers to pilots. The vocal consensus, at least, is that nobody likes them, even though 64 percent of Americans support the practice and 70 percent don't expect it to impact their travel. A friend of mine, flying today, tweeted that he made it through security at New York's JFK airport in a mere ...
by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) (2 years ago)
Nov 23rd, 2010 at 2:00PM: We've all heard that the day before Thanksgiving is the busiest of the year for air travel. And, the roads tend to get clogged up with people going to visit friends and family – not to mention stuff their faces with turkey, potatoes and other traditional holiday fare. Travel isn't going to be fun tomorrow, but you already know that.
But, do you know why?
Personally, of course, I have ...
by Laurel Miller (RSS feed) (2 years ago)
Nov 15th, 2010 at 8:30AM:
In Germany, a "fleshmob" of semi-naked activists from the Pirate Party staged a body scanner protest at the Berlin-Tegel Airport, reports Discover magazine. German authorities plan to begin using "Nacktscanners," or AIT (Advanced Imaging Technology), which uses high frequency radio waves to produce images of a passenger's naked body, across the country within the next two years.
Here and ...
by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) (2 years ago)
Oct 20th, 2010 at 3:30PM: ExpressJet Airlines pilot Michael Roberts wasn't at all interested in getting a body scan, and now he's wondering how long he'll have his job.
Roberts was selected to be scanned at Memphis International Airport last Friday. He refused. He was offered a pat-down. He refused that, too. Then, he went home, according to an Associated Press report.
The pilot says he doesn't want to be "harassed ...
by Sean McLachlan (RSS feed) (2 years ago)
Sep 28th, 2010 at 9:30AM: It had to happen sooner or later.
The Nigerian newspaper This Day has reported that security officials at Lagos airport are getting their jollies by watching female passengers go through a full-body scanner.
Nigerian investigative reporters visited the airport during a slow period when security officials had time to spare. The journalists found some of them hanging around the scanner ...
by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) (2 years ago)
Sep 9th, 2010 at 3:30PM: At Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, a pregnant passenger saw that she'd have to go through the full body scanner and instead asked for a TSA pat-down. Her request fell on deaf ears, she told The Consumerist, and was pushed into the decision to get scanned. According to the logic applied by the TSA folks, the passenger says, "Oh it is less than an ultrasound, and it's really easy so just go ...
by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) (2 years ago)
Aug 5th, 2010 at 11:00AM: The feds are keeping an archive of under-the-flesh security shots. Though the TSA has said in the past that airport body scans can't be stored or recorded, some agencies are now revealing archives of the revealing. Well, that isn't true after all, according to CNET:
Now it turns out that some police agencies are storing the controversial images after all. The U.S. Marshals Service admitted this ...
by Stephen Greenwood (RSS feed) (3 years ago)
Mar 3rd, 2010 at 7:00PM:
Gadling TV's Travel Talk, episode 3 – Click above to watch video after the jump
We're back! And this time we've brought you a show straight from the Vegas strip.
In this week's episode - we discuss a new ban on Indian rail rooftop travel, monitoring pilot's conversations in the cockpit, where the first body scanners will appear in the United States, and a little history ...
by Katie Hammel (RSS feed) (3 years ago)
Jan 8th, 2010 at 11:30AM: On Sunday, thousands of passengers ended up stuck at Newark airport for several hours, forced to evacuate the terminal, go through security again, and wait for the many flight delays and disruptions that happened as a result.
Some passengers tried to make the best of the situation. Many probably expressed frustration with the TSA employee who allowed a mystery man to walk the wrong way through a ...
by Sean McLachlan (RSS feed) (3 years ago)
Jan 3rd, 2010 at 9:00AM: Here's another hit for airline security. Not only have we discovered pat-downs aren't effective, now it turns out that full-body scanners wouldn't have detected the Christmas bomber on Northwest Flight 253. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was overpowered by passengers and flight crew after trying to detonate nearly 3oz of the chemical powder PETN (pentaerythritol tetranitrate) hidden in his underwear ...
by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) (3 years ago)
Jan 2nd, 2010 at 10:00AM: Is this really a shock? Pat-downs don't work well. Aviation experts say that government rules limit where the security folks can check, which means that would-be bombers only need to stash their illicit goods in the uncomfortable places that can't be touched. Any frequent traveler has been subject to this ritual at least once – and has probably wondered what good it does. Arms, armpits and ...
by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) (3 years ago)
Dec 30th, 2009 at 12:00PM: The Dutch government held a press conference this morning announcing their plans to beef up security at Amsterdam Schiphol airport.
Within three weeks, fifteen bodyscan machines will be in place (sources say the machines are the Rapiscan Secure 1000 scanners), and a 100% screening of all US bound passengers may help prevent a repeat of the Northwest Airlines incident.
See - THIS is how you ...