Security reveals your insecurities

“Checking your bags” may have a different meaning when you head to the airport this holiday season.
The Transportation Security Administration implemented full-body scanners at select national locations. Using X-ray technology, these scanners show a blurred naked image of boarding passengers.

The TSA claims the images it obtains are non-transferable, although documentation on the machine specifications seems to contradict that claim, according the Consumer Traveler website.

The site posted blogs about it to protect weary travelers and raises concerns that greedy TSA agents could save images on a USB drive. Although the machine produces a full-body image, it cannot penetrate the skin. Therefore, a potential terrorist could conceivably hide a bomb in a body cavity, or carry something that has a lower density than the scanner can detect, the site said.

For now, whether consumers choose the full scan or the traditional security check is still their choice.
However, this could change soon.

Traveler Meg McClain opted out of the scan, according to the RightJuris website. Seemingly frustrated by her choice, TSA officials shouted at her, handcuffed her to a chair and tore her ticket up in front of her, according to the site.

CNN contributors Marnie Hunter and Lexie Clinton have written about the alternatives implemented at some airports for customers that forgo the full-body scan: Passengers can be strip-searched and are subject to full-body pat downs. Yes, they can pat down your privates if they decide to.

The website We Won’t Fly has angry comments about these security measures posted on the site.

One angry traveler said this: “It’s the day ordinary citizens stand up for their rights, stand up for liberty, and protest the federal government’s desire to virtually strip us naked or submit to an ‘enhanced pat-down’ that touches people’s breasts and genitals. You should never have to explain to your children, ‘Remember that no stranger can touch or see your private area, unless it’s a government employee — then it’s OK.’”

Some comments point out that the tactics are justified because airplanes are private property, and airline owners are obligated to ensure passenger safety by any means necessary.

However, if the planes are privately owned, then why is government implementing these searches and using tax money to pay for security procedures that many taxpayers are opposed to. Why does Homeland Security have a say in the matter?

Opposition groups organized Nov. 24 as National Opt-Out Day. Passengers are encouraged to “opt-out” of traveling rather than be subjected to the full-body scanners.

This measure has received criticism in the wake of 9/11, according to MenWithFoilHats.com.
Although a TSA spokesperson quoted in an article posted on the site said, “The TSA has received minimal complaints,” the web stream of angry retaliation suggests otherwise.

So consider how you want to get your bags checked before you head home for the holidays. If you decide to opt-out of the scan, you may want to prepare yourself for an anything-goes situation.