SOP discussion
Dec 7, 2009, 12:25 pm
#136
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Just a note that the Travel Section editors and writers of The Washington Post are having a webchat a little over two hours from when I'm posting this.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...113002924.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...113002924.html
Are Secrets Revealed Worth Excitement or Worry?: Someone in the travel blogosphere discovered recently that the secret TSA screening manual was actually posted on the Internet by the government about nine months ago.
Did you go through it yet and find anything worth reporting on?
Christopher Elliott: It's an interesting document. Who knew that diplomatic pouches and foreign dignitaries were exempt from TSA screening?
It looks as if someone should have done a better job redacting that manual. Better yet, they shouldn't have released it at all.
I'm not sure if any of this matters. Since my last column about the TSA, I've been in touch with insiders who tell me these procedures are not always followed. Maybe it's worth a follow-up column?
_______________________
New York, NY: Have you read the recently discovered "redacted" content from the TSA's Screening SOP and if so what are your thoughts on the content deemed supposedly too secret for public consumption?
Watch lists of specific countries? Instructions for how to wash hands after a positive ETD swab? How to calibrate the WTMDs?
More info here.
Christopher Elliott: As I've already said, the document is interesting, but I'm not sure if there's anything in there that is worth stopping the presses for.
Now, if you have a copy of the unredacted document, please send it along ...
Did you go through it yet and find anything worth reporting on?
Christopher Elliott: It's an interesting document. Who knew that diplomatic pouches and foreign dignitaries were exempt from TSA screening?
It looks as if someone should have done a better job redacting that manual. Better yet, they shouldn't have released it at all.
I'm not sure if any of this matters. Since my last column about the TSA, I've been in touch with insiders who tell me these procedures are not always followed. Maybe it's worth a follow-up column?
_______________________
New York, NY: Have you read the recently discovered "redacted" content from the TSA's Screening SOP and if so what are your thoughts on the content deemed supposedly too secret for public consumption?
Watch lists of specific countries? Instructions for how to wash hands after a positive ETD swab? How to calibrate the WTMDs?
More info here.
Christopher Elliott: As I've already said, the document is interesting, but I'm not sure if there's anything in there that is worth stopping the presses for.
Now, if you have a copy of the unredacted document, please send it along ...
Dec 7, 2009, 12:37 pm
#137
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Well, I just Tweeted a link to Trollkiller's site with the document to my 800+ followers and the 20 lists I’m on. The TSA Blog Team has been awful quiet on Twitter since Thanksgiving, but I have a feeling things might get busy for them. 
Dec 7, 2009, 12:53 pm
#138
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I think I would have ignored the goings on if I made decisions for TSA. That way a case could be made that the document was out of date and nothing in it was completely valid. The way TSA handled this so far makes one think that parts of the SOP were in fact current and valid.
I also think if there was a document for travelers that outlined the TSA procedures that travelers would have to comply with and clearly explained limitations and such that this would have never happened in the first place.
TSA treats the everyday traveler as a threat while most of us should be treated as an asset against the 1 in a 100~ billion bad guy.
I honestly believe that the whole TSA paradigm is flawed and until changes in core principles are made TSA will never gain the trust (or cooperation) of the public.
TSA has shown a distinct lack of interest in their blog of late, I'm betting its nearing its end.
Dec 7, 2009, 1:11 pm
#139
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BoingBoing picked this up as well:
Unfortunately, the security geniuses at the DHS don't know that drawing black blocks over the words you want to eliminate from your PDF doesn't actually make the words go away, and can be defeated by nefarious al Qaeda operatives through a complex technique known as ctrl-a/ctrl-c/ctrl-v. Thankfully, only the most elite terrorists would be capable of matching wits with the technology brilliance on display at the agency charged with defending our nation's skies by ensuring that imaginary hair-gel bombs are kept off of airplanes.
Dec 7, 2009, 1:50 pm
#142
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Dec 7, 2009, 2:20 pm
#144
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I wonder if the days of manual typewriters and non-digital copiers are coming back so this won’t happen again? 
Dec 7, 2009, 2:24 pm
#145
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This story has officially 'sploded in the Twittersphere. About every minute another Tweet if you note the timestamps:
Dec 7, 2009, 2:32 pm
#146
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Dec 7, 2009, 2:45 pm
#147
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3...2....1....
Should have been a fine day to work at TSA HQ!
Dec 7, 2009, 3:26 pm
#148
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Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8830/4.5.0.138 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)
I'm enough of a tree hugger to not want to waste 95 pages of paper on a TSA SOP.
I'm enough of a tree hugger to not want to waste 95 pages of paper on a TSA SOP.
Dec 7, 2009, 3:33 pm
#149
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I heard back from the TSA finally. Don't worry, layers will protect us.
http://www.wanderingaramean.com/2009...rotect-us.html
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has become aware that an outdated version of a Standard Operating Procedures document was improperly posted by the agency to the Federal Business Opportunities Web site wherein redacted material was not properly protected.
TSA takes this matter very seriously and took swift action when this was discovered. A full review is now underway.
TSA has many layers of security in place to keep the traveling public safe and to constantly adapt to evolving threats. TSA has put appropriate measures in place to effectively screen passengers at airport security checkpoints nationwide.
TSA takes this matter very seriously and took swift action when this was discovered. A full review is now underway.
TSA has many layers of security in place to keep the traveling public safe and to constantly adapt to evolving threats. TSA has put appropriate measures in place to effectively screen passengers at airport security checkpoints nationwide.