TSA

The Touch, Squeeze, and Assault Transportation Security Administration is a shitty display of security theater, which does nothing to make us safer while simultaneously violating everyone who wants to ride a plane. It's known for massively overreacting to everything, having never stopped a terrorist attack. In other words, it's a useless funnel of our money and yet another example of our wasteful response to 9/11. LiberalAirport Security: Astoundingly Expensive and 95 Percent Ineffective by Kriston Capps. CityLabActing TSA director reassigned after screeners failed tests to detect explosives, weapons by Eric Bradner and Rene Marsh CNN and conservativeThe TSA Was and Is a Gigantic Mistake by Brittany Hunter. Foundation for Economic EducationTSA Boondoggles: High Costs, Low Effectiveness, But It's Only Your Money by George Leef Forbes sources agree that the TSA sucks. It's cost inefficient, overspending, and a waste of taxpayer money.The Naked Truth about TSA Spending by Chris Edwards CATO Institute
==Effectiveness==
A 2001 paperAssessing the Risks, Costs and Benefits of United States Aviation Security Measures by M.G. Stewart and J. Mueller found it questionable that the TSA helps to prevent terrorist attacks similar to 9/11. The TSA director got reassigned in 2015: after testing by the Department of Homeland Security in which his administration failed to detect fake bombs and weapons 95% of the time.TSA Director Reassigned in Wake of Security Failures by Justin Fishel and Mike Levine ABC The US GAO (Government Accountability Office) had to step in to make suggestions that the TSA provide accurate and sufficient data on performance.Aviation Security PDF GAO
TSA's SPOT program has been found to be ineffective by the GAOAviation Security: TSA Should Limit Future Funding for Behavior Detection Activities GAO and by Nature.Intent to deceive? PDF Nature The ACLU has criticized the SPOT program as racial profiling.TSA Refusing to Release Documents About Spot Program’s Effectiveness, Racial Profiling Impact ACLU
Body-scanners used by the TSA, the Rapiscan Secure 1000 full-body scanners, are not good at catching contraband or illegal weapons and can easily be bypassed.Security Analysis of a Full-Body Scanner PDF The TSA ended their contract with the maker of Rapiscan body-scanners in 2013 due to the privacy risk posed by the machines.TSA ends contract with Rapiscan, maker of full-body scanner by Hugo Martin LA Times Another body-scanner, the millimeter-wave machine, regularly reports false positives: it can mistake sweat as weaponry.Sweating Bullets: Body Scanners Can See Perspiration as a Potential Weapon by Michael Grabell and Christian Salewski. Propublica X-ray body scanners may increase cancer risk.U.S. Government Glossed Over Cancer Concerns As It Rolled Out Airport X-Ray Scanners by Michael Grabell Propublica These scanners have been banned in European countries. The TSA removed the X-ray body-scanners in 2013.TSA Removes X-Ray Body Scanners from Airports by Mark Schoofs Propublica.
==Sexual assault and harassment==
Two TSA screeners were fired for a sexual assault scheme against men in 2015.Two TSA Officers Fired for Scheme to Grope Attractive Men at Denver Airport by Andrew Blankstein and Phil Helsel. NBC News A former TSA employee stated that sexual assaults against passengers were common.Former TSA Agent: Groping Scandal Is Business as Usual by Jason Edward Harrington. Time At LaGuardia Airport, 2015, a TSA agent was arrested for sexually assaulting a woman.TSA agent accused of sexual assault at LaGuardia CBS News A female TSA employee's criminal charges over sexual assault at the Denver International Airport were dropped in 2014.No Criminal Charges Against TSA Agent Over Pat-Down At DIA CBS Local
Rapiscan body scanners gave TSA agents low-res naked photos of screened passengers to inspect for weapons. TSA officers commonly shared low-res nudes of passengers without consent.8 Things You Don't (Want To) Know About TSA Checkpoints by Robert Evans and Anonymous Cracked
RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) had to write a guide for victims of sexual assault regarding the TSA.Airport Security for Survivors RAINN Angela T. Rye, a journalist filmed her frightening pat-down where the TSA agent was very close to grabbing her private parts.Dear TSA: The country is not safer because you grab vaginas by Angela T. Rye CNN Aida Rodriguez, a rape victim has said that the TSA pat-down made her feel incredibly uncomfortable.TSA Body Search Leaves CNN’s Angela Rye In Tears 3:16 The Young Turks Sarah Beaulieu, a survivor of sexual assault, broke down in tears when faced with the prospect of a TSA screening.What TSA Screenings Mean For Sexual Assault Survivors by Sarah Beaulieu wbur Gina Miller has recounted her sexual assault by a TSA agent.My sexual assault by the TSA by Gina Miller Renew America
In 2010, a new pat-down method included breast and buttocks groping and examining genitals.Changes in Airport Passenger Screening Technologies and Procedures: Frequently Asked Question PDF by Bart Elias Congressional Research Service In 2017, the TSA introduced a new even-more invasive pat-down method, of which they warned police departments about increased complaints.TSA Introducing New, More Invasive Pat-Down Method by Mary Beth Quirk Consumerist
==Neglect of duty==
People cracked all seven master keys used to unlock luggage in 2015, and the TSA doesn't seem to care.TSA Doesn't Care That its Luggage Locks Have Been Hacked by Jenna McLaughlin The Intercept
It took seven years for the TSA to finally respond to a journalist's Freedom of Information Act request.The TSA Releases Data on Air Marshal Misconduct, 7 Years After We Asked by Michael Grabell Propublica The TSA disclosed data on passenger complaints, four years after he requested the data.TSA Reveals Passenger Complaints … Four Years Later by Michael Grabell Propublica
==External links==
*
*TSA official website
Their social media:
*Twitter
*Youtube Channel
*Instagram
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Authoritarianism
Category:Government incompetence
Category:Government surveillance
Category:Islamophobia
Category:Racism
Category:Rape
Category:Terrorism
Category:Transport
Category:United States government