I tried that a couple of weeks ago at IAH and caught hell for not having the squiggles... and they certainly weren't happy with my contention that, "it's not my job to pass your secret messages along." It earned me a bag search and if I didn't have a backup, albeit unsquiggled, BP, I am pretty sure they would have sent me back for a new one.

So I just switched over to paperless recently and am wondering why I just didn't do that sooner.

As near as I can tell, there is no official "policy" that you have to use one single BP through the process, but as we all know, TSA tends to make it up as they go along and have the authority to do whatever they want to define the "security process."

It happens all the time at Bloomington, IL (BMI). There is about 15 feet between the TDC and the WTMD, where the second person checks the boarding pass. There's also usually a barker by the entrance to the baggage x-ray who tells everyone to keep their BP out. At least the guy checking the BP's after the WTMD is the one running the WTMD, so there isn't a separate person checking BP's. Still, it's quite pointless.

Wait until one of them tries to "squiggle" your phone. Then you'll stop wondering.

If I could only get a WTMD I'd be more than happy to show them a boarding pass. Consider yourself lucky.

IAH. First time I ran into it (three weeks ago) I thought I'd been singled out for refusing to play the name game with them and I was being put on a naughty list, now I realize it's just the latest act of security theater.

You refused to play the name game? As in, you didn't give them your name? And you speak English.

That's something a lot of FT'ers have been curious about. Please expound on your experience if that is indeed the case.

I just did what appears to be the most common tactic in the name game thread�told them that it's on my boarding pass and they can read it there. He gave up after a little back and forth.

We'll see if they're still playing on Friday though with a 6am departure I may be too tired to care.

Just make sure you take off your tin foil hat before going through the scanners.

Seriously, I think TSA is ridiculous, but thinking those people have the brain cells to be nefariously spying on you is downright humourous!

You don't have to be smart to break into someone's house after writing down their address from their DL.

Can you offer ANY alternate reason for them to be violating the privacy act, removing ID or BP from your vicinity, and disappearing?

Either they're up to no good for a personal reason, or the checkpoint management has told them to start a spiral notebook "enemies list". Like J. Edgar would do.

Why would you be complacent as your personal information gets archived in an uncontrolled set of data records that you can't recover with a FOIA request?

You certainly wouldn't feel comfortable if you bought a pizza, brought it back later to complain about it, and the clerk demanded your driver's license and they took it out of your sight to a back room, would you? Neither the pizza clerk nor the TSA clerk (possibly the same person - different shift) has any legitimate need to retain personal data from complainers.