The crusading Joel Johnson of Gizmodo has published a set of images taken from a millimeter scanning system at a Florida Federal courthouse. These images were not supposed to exist yet they do and, while the resolution of these is sub par, if these machines retain their images then we can only assume that TSA machines also keep and store these images. → Read More
It finally happened. A Muslim woman in Manchester refused to submit to a full-body airport body scanner and was thus barred from boarding her flight. She cited her Muslim faith, which might have been expected, as to why she refused to submit to the scan. I don’t trust the Internet to react to this news with any aplomb whatsoever. → Read More
Not to alarm y’all, but those millimeter wave body scanners that have been paraded around as the solution to would-be airplane terrorist attacks? Turns out they’re sorta useless in that, while they’re able to detect dense material (C4, metal, traditional bombs, etc.), they’re completely ineffective against less dense material. And wouldn’t you know it, the powdered explosive that was to have been used in the Christmas plot would not have been detected by the scanners. As Jay-Z would say, on to the next one. → Read More
Oh, dear. The TSA will expand the use of those body scanners we’ve talked about time and time again. This will no doubt freak out a certain segment of the population, but I have something even more terrifying for y’all: adjustable rate mortgages! → Read More
Man, people are pretty uncomfortable with their bodies. Remember those whole-body airport scanners? Well, “privacy advocates” are now demanding that the Transportation Security Administration remove them from all airports because, yes, they say it’s an invasion of privacy. As such, a group called the Electronic Privacy Information Center, or EPIC (really, EPIC? perhaps this whole story is fake), is starting a campaign to draw people’s attention to the matter. Once fully freaked out, people will then sign a petition or whatever because they don’t want the government stomping all over their rights or some other nonsense. → Read More
Last week’s attacks in India have reminded us all of the keen danger that terrorism poses. But one tool that was to be employed at airports to combat terrorism, those body scanners that sometimes reveal a person’s, well, person, came under criticism. Fighting terror (inasmuch as you can fight it) is great and all, but should people literally be exposed in the process? The Germans say no, and are developing a body scanner that, while it does its job (detecting weapons and so forth), doesn’t show off your nude body to the leering airport screeners. The new scanner will undergo proper laboratory tests this week. The full-on “naked scanner” is already in use in other European countries such as the Netherlands. Also, Germany-Netherlands make a fine football rivalry. Three cheers for random, tangentially related information! → Read More
