Is the TSA violating your privacy with its new body scanning machines?

Sharon, I totally agree....Yeah, I'd be a little more than upset if I was one of the 'randomly' chosen people to do this. In my opinion, this is going way too far....

Whatever it takes to prevent the terrorists from destroying a plane that I am on...I am all for it.

Put the blame on the terrorist and not on TSA.

Airports around the world will probably be using something similiar to this machine if they are not currently using it.

"Whatever it takes to prevent the terrorists from destroying a plane that I am on...I am all for it."

Amen to that.

If you are chosen for a scan you can refuse. You will have to admit to a body pat down, but you can refuse going into the machine. So don't get too upset.

Germany has already said it will not use the machine.

It reminds me of the sci-fi movie Total Recall when AHnold runs through the screening with a weapon.

Personally, I would rather go through one of these screenings than be patted down. It's faster and more reliable. The screener (hopefully) isn't trying to see you naked. They are looking for weapons or explosives.

My only concern would be someone from TSA using the video in an inappropriate manner (like leaking a screening of a celebrity to the media).

It doesn't really bother me.

I could care less, as long as it doesn't make me late for my plane but sometimes[ i like to poo on ppl and places just for fun and also i like to pee in fountians dont you]

[ above ]

Why you NEVER leave a window open and while signed in,, and run off to do an errand, and you have a J*CK *SS of a teenage son who thinks he is hilarious posting potty talk like a 4 yr old.
Was going to edit this out soon as I saw it.. just sat down after running around all morning, after having stupidly left window open,, and saw this mess.. but then decided to leave it,, so now you know WHY I love to travel so much ,, with out my kids.. LOL

And that's the main issue--a video is kept and could be taken by a TSA employee. (There are numerous cases of TSA theft from bags, do you think these same people would hesitate to take a video for a buck?)

The big question is this....how much of of your constitutional rights are you willing to give up in the name of security?

I say bravo to Germany on this one! I think they are absolutely right that these don't add anything to security but give the illusion that "things are being done." What happens when they decide that body cavities could theoretically be used to smuggle aboard weapons?

The chances that these machines will ever catch a terrorist are just about nil. The odds that some of these films will hit You tube or be used at "hilarious" TSA party screenings are considerably more than nil. Color me skeptical about the need for that kind of unprecedented privacy violation.

If you want to know why I'm skeptical about anything TSA does, read the following:

Airport Security Report

And then let's hope the next administration puts some competent people in to run TSA and get rid of the TSA agents who make up their own rules and abuse power while hiding behind their newly given badges.

I think the new scan is insidious, to say the least . .
BUT! But I prefer it to the pat-down any day!
I was detained by US officials in 2003. It was a truly horrifying, humiliating experience.
While my detention had to do with legalities (imagined and in the end null and void),
the body/strip-search during detention was simply awful. We detainees (all older, foreign women, and a few children, only one old man)were made to stand in a hallway under security (with officers with their trigger-finger on the trigger)for about seven hours, were not allowed to use a rest-room or sit. Some fainted, some peed themselves, for which they were repeatedly ridiculed and taunted.
We were made to strip in front of everyone, butt-naked, made to bend over for the body-cavity searches, and invaded in our most private places for all to see. The officers then made a play out of shooting themselves with the 'used' gloves, ducking and laughing, and making rude remarks and jokes.

In the end I was released, ALLOWED to enter the US temporarily, even though I was then a tax-payer, legal resident and single parent of five children, grandmother of two American grandchildren, all living in the USA, librarian of a small New England town for over eight years and deeply involved in non-profit organizations and neighborhood issues.

Eventually I received an apology from the immigration judge, before whom I had to appear 30 days later (all the time not knowing if I would be deported or not), but that stamp in my passport is indelible, and I get searched and questioned everytime I travel to, or within the USA. It's a nightmare.
I was almost detained again this summer, traveling to the funeral of my daughter-in-law.

In case you are wondering:
Terminal E, Boston Logan Airport. . .

Scan me any day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I also get a VERY thorough search each time I fly because I am flagged. However, no strip searches. I was working on the east coast for several weeks...called and made a reservation for a flight and left the next day from Dulles with 6 suitcases.
The ticket cost my company over $1,000.

Now I know why...it is something I can live with.

I think Frank makes a good point. How many of your rights are you willing to give up in the name of security? Most of the restrictions seem to be as responses to terrorism not pro-active steps to keep us safe. Someone tries to light a shoe bomb so we all have to take off our shoes. I don't think we're safer than before. That's only my opinion.

Corrine that was HORRIBLE,, that sounded like something from the concentration camps.. honestly,, how can they allow that ,, and when you said it was America I just about fainted,, it is shocking how nasty they can get in the name of "Homeland Security" and it is WRONG but unfortunately I don't think my country is much better either.. but it does sound like something from a horror movie fascist regime etc. .. they may have had the right to detain you , but not like THAT!! They should have been charged with abuse of power..

I think a scan sounds MUCH better then the body pat down anyday!

Interesting the way that by default TSA seems to get all the blame for all travel-related unpleasentries, no matter which agency commits the offense (Immigration, Customs, ATF, etc.). I wonder why they've become the bug-bear of all complaints when all they really do is screen the luggage and passengers?

I also think that Frank made an exceptionally good point! The TSA employees also need to be retrained psychologically, because too many of them operate under the assumption that every foreigner entering the US is the enemy. I wouldn't want to know just how much damage they have done to the reputation of your Nation. The Internet is full of stories worse than mine, afterall I was allowed to go after the ordeal, and of testimonies of people who will never travel to the USA again. I myself only go when I have to, and suffer bouts of anxiety when it is time to.
I am almost relieved that non-citizens will have to file for permission online before traveling to the USA. While not excactly democratic or inviting, it would take some of the anxiety away for me. Ditto with the scan.

Corrina...just a correction. TSA has nothing to do with you entering the country. That's Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE).

TSA are the people who search your luggage BEFORE you get on a plane. You deal with Austria's version before you get on a flight. (TSA stands for Transportation Security Administration.)

Well put, Frank :-))
I shouldn't throw them all in one hand-basket! Thanks for the correction!

ONe of the reasons is that most air passengers never come in contact with any other agencies but TSA.

Another is that you never know what to expect from TSA:

--there is no consistency in following the rules from one airport to another,

--some TSA screeners are on a power trip and love to hassle passengers. And now they all wear shiny new badges which are all for show since they have no law enforcement power.

--if you disagree with what they order you to do, because you know it is wrong, they use the "do you want to fly today" threat,

--yelling at me to take my belt off even though a) it's not required, and b) there's no metal in it. But the screener wanted all belts off so all belts had to come off. The few who argued got the "Do you want to fly today" routine. She made up her own rules.

Don't get me wrong. I've dealt with many professional and courteous TSA screeners. It's sad that TSA management doesn't do its job and get rid of the bad apples so the agency as a whole wouldn't get a bad rap.

I know that there is some inconsistency from airport to airport, but do you think it is worse than it was prior to TSA? I travel a lot, or at least I did until the last couple of months when our budgets were slashed. Before TSA, nothing was the same from airport to airport. Some places wanted your lap top out, others didn't. Some wanted to have your cords out others didn't. Some cared about coats, others didn't. I feel like there is much better consistency now than there was in the past. Of course, they have a ways to go and those agents on power trip should be fired. But I was through LaGuardia this past week and was happy to see that they finally have the redesigned security which should improve lines.

Pam

I fly alot and have to go thru "pat-down" type security at TSA before each flight due to having a pacemaker installed in my chest. I have nothing but compliments for the TSA personnel that have searched me all these times. Yes, there are inconsistencies from airport to airport, but, just maybe, this new device will enable me to skip the "pat-downs".

Whenever this kind of discussion comes up, I think about the video footage of the 9/11 hijackers racing past the gate onto the plane with no one giving a second glance.

It may not be perfect, but it is better than nothing. They can scan me, x-ray me, photograph me all they want.

Wait until a story hits the news that someone was apprehended trying to smuggle some sort of explosive on board - people will change their tune.

And, Corinna, I am very sorry to hear about your treatment in Boston. That is truly shameful.

I follow, but don't comment, on the official TSA blog which has a large population of commenters who are generally disapproving of TSA's policies and critical of the agency. I do think they have some valid points, and there are certainly plenty of TSA-abuse stories to go around. I also think that security screening is important and that we all surrender some personal freedoms when occupying public spaces.

My take is that the TSA is a typical government agency: important, generally well-meaning, but often woefully inept, understaffed, underfunded, and under-trained. There is a happy balance between security and freedom, and we SHOULD be able to screen people so that no explosives get on airplanes, without causing extreme inconvenience or worse for passengers.

As far as the screening machines themselves go...is having a TSO look at an x-ray image of my underwear any more invasive than having one put her/his hands all over me during a pat-down search? My father also has a pacemaker, and he would much rather take 40 seconds to be screened than wait 15 minutes for a pat-down as he recently did.

Corinna, that's is a very sad story.I would have sued them.