My bag set off the ETD, sort of . . .
 

Yesterday I was entering the A concourse at IAH. I did not have a laptop with me, but I did have a projector in my brand new Tumi rolling computer bag. A screener told me that my bag contained things that were too dense, and needed to be swabbed.

Ok, wait til I put my shoes and suit coat back on, I will be right with you. She opened a couple of the zippered pouches, and swabbed one then tested it. No alarm. She opened another, where my frequent flyer membership cards are all in a case put that swab in the reader and there was an alarm. Now I have a supervisor and another screener helping. The exchange went like this:

May I see your driver's license?

Yes.

What are you doing in Houston?

I am here on business?

We will need to run additional tests and search your bag.

Knock yourself out. . .

They pulled some, but not all the items out of my bag, and I asked if they would perform the test again, this time with fresh gloves and if the first machine that they used still alarmed, they test my bag against another machine at that checkpoint.

They told me that they would do that, but on the second test performed by a new screener, with fresh gloves, the machine did not react for the presence of trace chemicals.

The second screener started shoving my belongings back in the bag, without any regard to the way they came out. I asked him to stop, and told him that I would put them back the way that I had packed them. The Supervisor was filling out a form and asked for my occupation, home phone number, which are not on my driver's license. When I asked what he planned to do with that information he told me that it was policy to collect it. If I didn't give it to him, my other bag would be searched thoroughly and indicated that it would take some time. I took this as a not so veiled indication that I might be detained long enough that I would miss my flight and gave him the information he was asking for.

I asked what would be done with the report that he filed and he told me that it would be reviewed by his supervisors in Houston and then sent to TSA headquarters. I asked how long it would be kept, and whether it would have any adverse impact on my future travel and he could not answer that.

Anybody else been through this? Had any repercussions as a result of a single test positive test result?

BTW, I got an email today from my employer's security department; my DHS background check, in process for about 6 months was favorably adjudicated today. . . . how's that for irony. :rolleyes:

Kudos to you for asking for the second test. It appears that there was some leftover residue on the original testers' gloves.

I think you took it way too lightly. I would NEVER have given them my information (driver's license) or whatever. They don't care about what you did in Houston (if they don't believe us about anyhting else, why are they asking questions?), they just wanted to intimidate you.

FYI, many hand lotions come up positive in the swab tests. Perhaps some contact with that and your card(s) could have been the source....even if it was some time ago.

As for the intimidation and disregard for your expensive equipment, I would have started taking names, badge numbers and complaint cards.

Your inquiry as to what they would do with your information shows the TSA's inconsistency. Other airports say the information will be expunged provided your flight is incident-free, now the IAH TSA cronies are telling you your information will be kept on file.

re: what will be done the information?

ALL information collected by the FEDS is in the system forever. They don't, cann't, won't expunge it. You really think they have a system to do this?

They weren't trying to intimidate the OP; they were asking to determine if the OP had come in contact with a substance that might explain the EDT hit.

You say you NEVER would have given them this information...but wouldn't you worry that if you refused they would prevent you from flying? Or at the very least, hold you until you missed your flight? Call me TSA-intimidated, but I know I would.

You did good asking the right questions, but I would never have volunteered all of that personal information -- especially after the second test came up negative. As I wrote on another thread, during travel in which I don't need a rental car, I have stopped bringing my DL. I keep it in the glove box in my truck at the airport.

The TSA holds the threat of missing our flights under our noses. Unfortunately, most of us give in to that pressure and agree to things we normally never would have in other situations. Too bad...

They are social engineering us right into 1984, and we're letting them get away with it and thanking them for it. Geez.

I understand your concern about missing a flight. The TSA can't prevent you from flying under the circumstances originally posted without the personal information. The passenger passed the swab test, there's no need for his/her information to go into the database because (what appears to be) some TSA'ers gloves came in contact with stuff that tested positive in a previous test.

About missing the flights, I don't worry about that too much. Many times, I come to the airport in plenty of time. If they want to intimidate me, I have the right to get their name and badge number and talk to some people too. About the flight itself, I am confident that UA would book me on a different flight (barring weather delays) given my status with them. But again, I am understanding and sympathetic to others who either might get intimidated easily or have a tight schedule.

I had my checked luggage test positive for traces of TNT. It first CTX alarmed, and then a screener opened it for an ETD swab.

It was "resolved" by a supervisor; like you my drivers license was requested and they copied all of my information and flight information from my boarding passes. The screeners went through my luggage checking everything and eventually cleared it.

This was well over a year ago, if not two -- no repercussions as a result.

FWIW: I did make a complaint with my Senator's office wanting to know where the information went - Senator McConnell's office called back promptly after I arrived in Orlando and I spoke with the staff member in the Washington office responsible for TSA related issues; we never did get any straight answers after they made several inquiries on my behalf. (go figure).

SDF_Traveler

Does the FOIA not require them to tell you how the information will be used?

If anything applies for the TSA to inform us how the info is to be used, it would be the Privacy Act as opposed to FOIA.

Actually, you're thinking of the Privacy Act, but TSA exempted itself from that law a while ago (for "security" reasons, of course!). :rolleyes:

Bruce

YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT.

Privacy Act? What Privacy Act? Ah, the one Congress created to protect citizens from misuse of information by the government... The TSA has secret rules and secret procedures, which secretly exempts them to the Privacy Act. :mad: Anything in the name of security -- afterall, just think of the children.

As a TSA Screener once told me, "We're just following the laws passed by the President" :rolleyes:

SDF_Traveler

Agreed. But then you won't get on the plane. As a citizen, you have no recourse against the state (well, you have the courts, but you will still miss your flight).

And the driver's license is going to determine that how exactly? Pardon me, my BS detector seems to be going off. Sorry......... :rolleyes: