I took a trip recently between IAH and DEN and was again not surprised to see the x-ray monitors (which according to the TSA are SSI) visible at both airports. Here is a picture of one lane at IAH, Terminal C, Premier Side:
Unlike DEN, IAH plays the name game. What is disconcerting is at Terminal C, Premiere Side, the way the serpentine lane to the TDC is constructed, it winds less than a yard from a TDC station on its way to the front so that any person standing nearby can easily hear the TDC/passenger exchange. That pretty much defeats the privacy purpose of standing behind the red line.
Himeno
Aug 18, 12, 8:52 pm
SSI isn't classified on any level, TSA just likes to claim it is.
Yoshi212
Aug 18, 12, 9:02 pm
Your picture of their violation of protecting SSI is SSI.
OldGoat
Aug 19, 12, 5:25 am
Naughty, naughty. They asked that you not take a picture of that.
ND Sol
Aug 19, 12, 6:03 am
Your picture of their violation of protecting SSI is SSI.
Unlike TSOs, I am not a "covered person". As such, I have no obligation to protect their SSI.
HUB Flyer
Aug 19, 12, 6:54 am
Similar in the TSA PreCheck lane at LAX terminal 4 (AA). While getting your personal belongings from the xray belt you can easily see all the super secret SSI screens for that lane.
goalie
Aug 19, 12, 9:46 am
Naughty, naughty. They asked that you not take a picture of that.And I'm telling Big-Sis Mom on you ;)
Ari
Aug 19, 12, 10:15 am
It will be interesting to see if the TSA cares about this.
nachtnebel
Aug 19, 12, 12:50 pm
It will be interesting to see if the TSA cares about this.
They must not care or they would not have placed those monitors out in plain sight.
T.J. Bender
Aug 19, 12, 9:04 pm
Try going through JAX. The monitors actually face you as you look at the ATR's Gumby screen and wait for the all-clear. You can also clearly see them as you wait for/collect your belongings, being that they're perpendicular to the machine and all.
Bearcat06
Aug 22, 12, 8:41 am
SSI isn't classified on any level, TSA just likes to claim it is.
Bingo. Most times TSA doesn't even know what SSI is until someone says it is.... Idiots.
chollie
Aug 22, 12, 10:15 am
What's really surprising to me is how casual TSA has gotten about the x-ray monitors lately. I've picked up my stuff, walked past the belt to sit down and put on my shoes and looked over and seen the monitors fully visible.
Remember when TSA went after Phil Mocek for taking a picture of a blank form he was required to fill out before he would have been allowed to fly without ID? He got arrested - the form was blank, he was allowed to see it, had to see it, because he was being required to fill it out with his own personal information - but he wasn't supposed to photograph it because it was SSI.
CDKing
Aug 23, 12, 7:53 pm
There's not much to do when waiting during a line back up but to watch the screener's x-ray display.
Pesky Monkey
Aug 23, 12, 10:08 pm
What's really surprising to me is how casual TSA has gotten about the x-ray monitors lately. I've picked up my stuff, walked past the belt to sit down and put on my shoes and looked over and seen the monitors fully visible.
Remember when TSA went after Phil Mocek for taking a picture of a blank form he was required to fill out before he would have been allowed to fly without ID? He got arrested - the form was blank, he was allowed to see it, had to see it, because he was being required to fill it out with his own personal information - but he wasn't supposed to photograph it because it was SSI.
Actually he was arrested because the cop was a jerk. The TSA had no reason to even call a cop since no law was being broken, and the cop should have said such. Instead The cop then made up the ridiculous charge of disturbing the peace. I won't even mention the destruction of evidence part.
SSI got its start in the Air Transportation Security Act of 1974 (Pub. L. No. 93-366), which, among other things, authorized the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to prohibit disclosure of information obtained whose disclosure would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy; reveal trade secrets or privileged or confidential commercial or financial information obtained from any person; or would reduce the safety of passenger — all notwithstanding the Freedom of Information Act. On June 28, 1976, FAA published a proposal to create Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 191 entitled “Withholding Security Information from Disclosure under the Air Transportation Security Act of 1974.” Part 191 created the category of sensitive but unclassified information now known as Sensitive Security Information (SSI), and described the information to be protected from disclosure, including “the security program of any airport; the security program of any air carrier; any device for the detection of any explosive or incendiary device or weapon; and, any contingency security plan.”
I know, it's Wikipedia, but let's assume it is true. Our despised SSI was first proposed to protect personal information. How ironic. And reading through the history of SSI, we see the typical unrestrained expansion of government authority at the expense of personal liberty and open government.
FatherAbraham
Aug 26, 12, 4:55 am
Nevrmind
sbagdon
Aug 27, 12, 10:45 am
From the article under History:
I know, it's Wikipedia, but let's assume it is true. Our despised SSI was first proposed to protect personal information. How ironic. And reading through the history of SSI, we see the typical unrestrained expansion of government authority at the expense of personal liberty and open government.
I'm seeing more instances of LES (Law Enforcement Sensitive), in news/print/etc, from the smallest municipality, up to the federal levels. If they don't want to say, and sometimes if they just don't know and don't want to say they don't know, they just call it LES.
LV702
Sep 5, 12, 11:54 pm
You can see the monitors of both your lane and the next one in ATL.
ND Sol
Dec 29, 12, 5:49 am
A few more pictures at the other checkpoint for IAH Terminal C showing TSA's lack of interest in protecting SSI. While getting my grope from a lead (the lead did it because I once again mentioned medical for the reason and yet once again not offered the opportunity to go through the WTMD to see if I alarmed, so they thought they may need someone higher up to grope me), I mentioned the display of SSI and he referred to the higher-ups unwilling to do anything about it.
I am going to have to get a photo of my bag going through somehow. I may just ask. It is my bag and the reason they say they can not allow this is because of passenger privacy. Yeah, that will work.
Compared to this stuff, the display of my bag looks like the Vegas strip at night.
ND Sol
Jan 7, 13, 2:07 pm
Let's move on to BOS Terminal A and the Pre-Check line (though the others were not any better):
Looks like shoes and a computer went through last. :D
I was traveling through at about 6:45 am on New Year's Day with my wife and mother (who is over 75), both who went ahead of me. Mom and I declined the WBI. Per usual, I state that I am a "medical" for the WBI, but once again, I am told I will receive the full opt-out treatment. Since I had the temerity to question this, it was determined that a two-striper should do the honors.
After I pointed out my items, another two-striper, literally dropped my carry-on with handblown glass ornaments inside right on top of my laptop. Then he dropped my photography equipment bag with all its glass on top of my shoes. Asking him to be more careful elicited not a care.
While the first two-striper started the pat-down, I asked him about the medical procedures and he stated that it was only for those with medical devices. I am not sure that we ever understood each other about those unable to perform what the WBI requires.
He says that he knows the SOP, intimating that I do not. At one point he asks if I do work for the TSA since it appears I have more knowledge about procedures than the average passenger. He stated that he had been doing this for 10 years, likes his job and wants to keep it, so he doesn't plan on losing it for not following procedure. A decade on the job and he has been promoted exactly once and is still doing patdowns.
So he finishes and the swab is negative. I gather my belongings, pull out my camera and snap the above picture and put my lens cap back on. Only after this long wait does the female assist arrive for my mother, who was ahead of me in line. So I turn my attention towards that way while ensuring that I am staying out of the way.
After a little bit of patting down, I notice that the TSO has stopped in the middle of the procedure with my mother. A two-striper comes over and tells me that photography is prohibited. I noted that perhaps a review of Section 2.7 of his SOP was in order. He then storms off and, as he is walking pass the female TSO, states that he is going to get a supervisor.
The female TSO continues to refuse to complete the screening of my mother and states loud enough for me to hear that she doesn't want to be on YouTube. What is interesting is I never even took the lens cap off my camera during this.
After a little bit at least two (if not three) three-stripers are on the checkpoint plus a suit. It's beginning to look like a perimeter, except in this case they are watching my 75+ year old mother being patted down by another female TSO since the first one refused to complete the screening. So my mother had to suffer the indignity of being subjected to further invasiveness because a female TSO was too sensitive. Instead of letting the first female TSO off, she should have been ordered to complete the screening and not be kowtowed to when she failed to perform her duties.
None of the supervisors engaged either myself or, to my knowledge, my mother in any conversation about what was occurring. It was only in the middle of the second patdown that I approached the three-striper nearest me and asked him if photography is prohibited. He said it wasn't but then something to the effect that certain things were. When trying to determine what he meant, he was rather cryptic and said something to the effect that he would let me know if I started photographing whoever or whatever he was alluding to.
I mentioned to him that a two-striper had told me specifically that photography was prohibited, but he intimated that I must have misunderstood what he said. So what exactly did that two-striper go and tell his supervisors that caused at least three of them to come over, but yet none approached me about the two-striper's cause for concern? I have an idea. ;) I did mention that stating photography is prohibited has a "chilling effect", but I didn't get the impression that he understood the gravitas of those words.
To top it off, unbeknownst to me, the TSO required my mother to remove her shoes and she protested as she has never had to do such since the new rule went into effect. She eventually complied with the order. Afterwards, she discussed this in my presence with a three-striper, who stated that it was a subjective test by the TSO and if the TSO felt the passenger looked under 75, then shoes come off. Since in his mind, she didn't look over 65, he felt the TSO was correct. Well that's a very interesting reading of the SOP and a loophole big enough to run a truck through it, which we let him know about.
petaluma1
Jan 8, 13, 8:21 am
To top it off, unbeknownst to me, the TSO required my mother to remove her shoes and she protested as she has never had to do such since the new rule went into effect. She eventually complied with the order. Afterwards, she discussed this in my presence with a three-striper, who stated that it was a subjective test by the TSO and if the TSO felt the passenger looked under 75, then shoes come off. Since in his mind, she didn't look over 65, he felt the TSO was correct. Well that's a very interesting reading of the SOP and a loophole big enough to run a truck through it, which we let him know about.
BDL, on the metal grated cover on top of the X-ray rollers, they have training manuals or some other kind of book that read something along the lines of "SSI," on the top cover.
So I thought, ok, it was one lane that had an idiot that just left a book out in the open, oh no, they were in every lane.
I wanted to photograph it, and/or grab it and see what happened, but it was too early.
....Then, at TPA, they leave all the X-Ray monitors on overnight and in plain view when the checkpoint's closed. So maybe it's only the elusive SSI during the checkpoint's normal operating business hours. All other times, it's just a silly x-ray screen.
RadioGirl
Mar 22, 13, 12:24 am
....Then, at TPA, they leave all the X-Ray monitors on overnight and in plain view when the checkpoint's closed. So maybe it's only the elusive SSI during the checkpoint's normal operating business hours. All other times, it's just a silly x-ray screen.
Is it just the monitors which are left on, or the entire x-ray system? (Yes, actually, I am willing to believe that TSA is really that dumb.) That is, could a person put their bag through the x-ray when the checkpoint's closed and see what it looks like?
(C'mon, like none of YOU have lost something in a handbag or backpack and thought "if I had a few minutes with the checkpoint x-ray I could probably find it". :p)
InkUnderNails
Mar 22, 13, 4:07 am
Is it just the monitors which are left on, or the entire x-ray system? (Yes, actually, I am willing to believe that TSA is really that dumb.) That is, could a person put their bag through the x-ray when the checkpoint's closed and see what it looks like?
(C'mon, like none of YOU have lost something in a handbag or backpack and thought "if I had a few minutes with the checkpoint x-ray I could probably find it". :p)
Let's think about this. I am in the airport after hours, enough after that the CP is down. I find an Xray that is apparently left on. I crank up the conveyors and run my bag through and then I take pictures of the display.
Somehow, I don't see this ending well.
Your :p deserves at least a :p:p and a :rolleyes:.I would assign a :td: but it does have a certain appeal.
Pup7
Mar 22, 13, 6:07 am
At IAH Terminal C Premiere Side on Saturday. Still not protecting SSI on either open line:
I love the sign in the top image that warns you not to stick your hand in the X-ray machine. I have to ask: does IAH have BKSX, and if they do, am I the only one who sees the irony? :D
ND Sol
Mar 22, 13, 7:43 am
I love the sign in the top image that warns you not to stick your hand in the X-ray machine. I have to ask: does IAH have BKSX, and if they do, am I the only one who sees the irony? :DNo, MMW at IAH. However, the photos show that the sign was on one of the x-ray machines and not the other. So is it okay to stick your hand in the one that doesn't have the sign? :p
ND Sol
Mar 22, 13, 8:47 am
From yesterday evening at LAX - Lane 3 with a bonus of 6 TSOs:
One picture, six TSOs, five standing around doing nothing except gawking and perhaps talking to each other.
That's what really jumps out at me in each of these pictures - the number of purposeless, lounging TSOs. (Note the one a few posts earlier - very professional, an alert, on-the-front-lines TSO lounging, elbow on the machine).
Disneyland and Wendy's employees convey a more alert and professional attitude.
Pup7
Mar 22, 13, 1:54 pm
No, MMW at IAH. However, the photos show that the sign was on one of the x-ray machines and not the other. So is it okay to stick your hand in the one that doesn't have the sign? :p
My guess is yes. :D
Tx for the LOL, by the way.
LowlyDLsilver
Mar 31, 13, 3:19 pm
I've always wanted to see what my travel box looks like. 18 cigars in 3 foam trays - look Mildred, somebody brought his dy-nee-mite this morning!