Loren Pechtel

Yeah, ETD is the right solution here. I was just objecting about the metal detector.

What I think is going on here is a mindless case of the scanner highlights something so it must be inspected. They got rid of the nude images so the screeners have much less ability to actually figure out what they're looking at without a physical inspection.

Before they masked the images I never had my shirt pocket looked at. Since then it generally gets a quick pat because the scanner flags it. According to one screener that's because I actually use it to carry my phone--while the phone is out it does tend to cause the fabric to not lie perfectly flat when I go through the scanner. (I do agree it tends to not lie flat after the phone is removed.)

What I think they should do is combine the systems. Let the computer decide what looks odd but then show the screener that part of the image rather than just a highlight box.

WillCAD

I can't speak for everyone, but my most strenuous objection to the WBI was the nude images. I would never be in favor of returning to that, ever.

However, the solution introduced was imperfect - the Automated Target Recognition (ATR) software is part of the problem now, because it sees innocuous, harmless things like sweat and stretched shirt pockets and feminine hygiene products as anomalies. The bulk of the problem, of course, is TSA's draconian, mindless, one-size-fits-all approach to resolving any scanner anomalies, causing invasive physical searches which border on sexual assault on the best of days (and often cross way over the border into absolute sexual assault).

There are better, simpler, more efficient, and less abusive ways to resolve most anomalies, but since TSA insists on making the checkpoint a cognition-free zone (read: It encourages its screener force to NOT THINK before it acts), those better ways are never even considered before the abuses are heaped upon innocent travelers like the grandma who is the subject of this thread.

While improvements to the ATR software can solve some of these problems by not flagging harmless, permitted items (or non-items like thick clothing or sweat) for these invasive searches, I believe that the only true remedy is to fix the entire screening system to eliminate the abusive search methodologies entirely.

But my inner cynic laughs at such a ludicrous prospect, forcing me to hope beyond hope for the tiny, incremental improvement that upgraded ATR software might someday bring.

chollie

Or we could consider taking a look at how the rest of the world manages to keep planes from falling out of the sky daily without all the hands-on abusive activity.

Why should Americans have to pay millions for over-priced-especially-for-the-taxpayer technology just to reduce all the hand's on body issues? The rest of the planet seems to have figured it out.