TSA Feel me up or scan my parts

This image at SEA-TAC was taken from the government’s TSA website

Five days after a Christmas day bomb scare on a Delta Air Lines A330 as it neared landing in Detroit, the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) issued a $165 million contract to L-3 Communications for the purchase of whole-body imagers for airport security checkpoints. As recent as October, TSA issued a similar contract valued at $173 million to L-3 competitor, Rapiscan, for its Secure 1000 single-pose whole-body imaging system.

On November 1, TSA’s screeners began using invasive procedure for all pat-downs in which women’s breasts and all passengers’ genital areas are patted firmly. These new security procedures require some passengers either to enter full-body scanners that many consider overly intrusive, or submit to an intense full-body pat-down. Some airports may offer a choice in security arrangement, although the option may not always be better. USA Today reports that a passenger who refuses a 30-second full-image body scan may undergo a 2 minute pat-down by a TSA agent.

Since the changes happened to coincide with the Thanksgiving holiday, which is one of the busiest travel periods in the U.S, the blogosphere is buzzing with anti-TSA reactions and a pending unconfirmed civil disobedience ordered by some right activists.

These so-called rights activist are lobbying to have as many people as they can opt out of the full body scanner screening process on November 24, the day before Thanksgiving in the U.S. If they opt out they then need to have a physical pat-down with the result being to cause chaos at major airports. They are hoping for an outcome that will cause a serious backup in the TSA screening process nationwide. Thus, causing passengers to miss their flights and to prove a point of their dissatisfaction against the full-image body scan and the pat-down.

If you had to make a decision between the “Feel me up” and the “Scan my parts,” which option would you prefer and why?

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