Security Theater
POLITICO Magazine posted an astonishing article this week. Dear America, I Saw You Naked. Written by Jason Edward Harrington, a former TSA officer, it is an indictment and affirmation of all the security theater nonsense we, the traveling public, have had to endure at the hands of the federal government the last several years.
(For those who aren't aware of the term, security theater refers to conspicuous measures taken to make the public think they are safer without measurably increasing actual safety. See, e.g., Wikipedia definition.)
Harrington's article lays bare several truths about nonsense the TSA puts millions of travelers through on a daily basis. Many of us regular travelers had long suspected these from our laymen's perspective though the TSA officially has denied them for years:
1. The x-ray scanners (old technology now) basically don't/didn't work. They were little more than an expensive invasion of privacy and threat to public health.
2. The crude unprofessionalism of TSA officers entrusted to look at naked pictures of members of the public and physically examine them.
3. Agents and supervisors make up rules on the spot and apply procedures arbitrarily to punish travelers who question what's going on.
4. The low morale of TSA officers. The bulk of them recognize the absurdity of the Orwellian machine they are cogs in but keep it working anyway.
(For those who aren't aware of the term, security theater refers to conspicuous measures taken to make the public think they are safer without measurably increasing actual safety. See, e.g., Wikipedia definition.)
Harrington's article lays bare several truths about nonsense the TSA puts millions of travelers through on a daily basis. Many of us regular travelers had long suspected these from our laymen's perspective though the TSA officially has denied them for years:
1. The x-ray scanners (old technology now) basically don't/didn't work. They were little more than an expensive invasion of privacy and threat to public health.
2. The crude unprofessionalism of TSA officers entrusted to look at naked pictures of members of the public and physically examine them.
3. Agents and supervisors make up rules on the spot and apply procedures arbitrarily to punish travelers who question what's going on.
4. The low morale of TSA officers. The bulk of them recognize the absurdity of the Orwellian machine they are cogs in but keep it working anyway.