TSA Fun In MSP
 

Monday last a single security line was going nowhere despite seven happy and chatty TSA folks watching the three TSA agents working. My new best friend in the line pulled out is smart phone and began to video the happy and chatty crowd. I did the same as did two other travelers in the line. We recorded the happy TSA crowd for about 90 seconds before they spoted us and, to our great suprise, two additional lines opened. I would have posted the video on YouTube if I could ever figure out how to do it!

deleted.

No working in a public enviroment there is no expectation of privacy so photography/videography is allowed.

This is just typical behavior for govt employees doing as little as possible while getting paid as much as they can get, and status quo for TSA. Only reason they got moving is because they got caught on video, and were afraid it would end up on youtube.

it is pretty easy to upload.. just create an account and at the top look for 'upload' and it takes you to a new page where you can upload the video from your computer (that is if you have saved it to a media card and you can hook it up to your computer) or just email the video to yourself .. save the file to your desktop and upload from there..

love to see the video of govt in action!:(

Isn't it TSA policy that for every 1 actively working person, there must be at least 2 people to marshal the working person? ;)

So, uh... is there a trip in here somewhere?

Its illegal to tape security procedures or sensitive information. A line at security is neither...

I would assume if it was illegal the TSA agents would have spoken to the OP about it...

..over the relevant Travel Safety forum.

Swanhunter
Moderator, Trip Reports

TSA does not forbid recording in the checkpoints. They have stated as much repeatedly on the TSA web site and blog.

However, the US is made up of 50 states and numerous territories (similar to provinces in other countries), and each state has its own laws regarding photography and videography at the airport, or of law enforcement officers, so it is forbidden to record in some states. This has nothing to do with TSA, which is an agency of the federal government; it's all about the state or local governments where the airport is located.

However, there are still many TSA employees throughout the US who either remain ignorant of the TSA policy, or intentionally disregard the policy, and falsely tell travelers that photography and videography at the checkpoint is forbidden. This has cause many difficulties, especially when local police come along and side with TSA, which has happened in multiple airports across the country.

I saw a YouTube video this past summer of travelers in BWI (my home airport) being ordered by multiple TSOs to stop filming the checkpoint, and having their ID taken and recorded for some sort of incident report. This prompted me to investigate with the local authorities:I checked with the Maryland Aviation Administration, an agency of the state government which runs the airport; the Maryland Transportation Authority Police, a state police agency which provides all law enforcement functions at the airport; and the Maryland Attorney General's Office, a state agency responsible for the prosecution of criminal cases. Each of these agencies confirmed for me, after some back-and-forth emails, that it is legal and permissible to take both still photos and record video in any of the public areas of the BWI terminal. Hence, the actions of the TSOs in the YouTube video I saw were illicit.

To be absolutely certain of the legality, however, you have to check with the local authorities within each state before you travel there.

See the recent verdict of Glik v. Boston. The US court of appeals has now ruled that it is well within one's constitutional rights to videotape and record all law enforcement officers AND Police officers do not have any type of immunity, qualified or otherwise, whatsoever.

Even in MA, although MA is the only jurisdiction that enforces a no audio wiretapping law with regard to LEO's. Outside of MA, you're fine.

I've informed a TSA person of the exact verdict of Glik v. Boston, while writing down their badge number and name, and soon received no further trouble.

Heck, a lot of times they'll do it even if it isn't illegal.

Mike

Please get a friend to show you how, it is not difficult. Upload it and provide a link!

This is common at MSP. A few weeks ago our line wasn't moving and the screener was chatting (it was clearly not a work type chat) with another guy for considerable time. I yelled over to them to start screening luggage instead of chatting. She gave me a dirty look and got back to screening. Then guess who got a 'random' search.

Makes me ill that these people call themselves American.