If you were selected for secondary could a member of your party videotape your patdown?

I don't have the answer to that, but I've suggested taking still pictures of a patdown.

Now I just watched NBC Nightly News and their segment on patdowns. Did the agent patting down the woman in the yellow shirt use her palms on the woman's "sensitive" areas? It sure looked like it to me. (Don't look at the Today show video on MSNBC to check - that's a different segment than Nightly News showed.)

Also, a good hint for getting through: wear your pajamas and slippers to the airport, put your clothes through the machine, get them on the other end and go change in the bathroom!!!! Apparently, it's a procedure lots of college kids are using.

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regarding the older woman (and she was not that much older than I am) who commented to the effect that the search was fine with her because it made flying safer - I just astounds me that people believe that crap. She must have voted for "W".

A sure fire way to
a) miss your flight
b) have a nice face-to-face chat with some 'folks' in a liitle room
c) lose your film and camera
d) make it to The List.

Let us know when/where you intend to do this, I'd like to watch.

Photography of security procedures is an absolute no-no. There may or may not be an actual law saying so, not that that matters.

I wonder if they have the right to stop you. You tell them OK when they are going to secondary you and that your travellig companion will video the event to protect your rights.

Can they stop this?

Only if it actually interferes with the screening process. And I think that it would be a hard argument for that provided you are standing out of the way and you are not setting off your flash on your camera/camcorder.

There were some threads on this a while back. The general consensus from the TSA folks seemed to be that having yourself photographed was OK (the example was in the context of family filming the screening process as part of their vaction home video--weird from a FF point of view but whatever) but that photographing strangers getting secondary was not OK (privacy/humiliation), photographing images on x-ray machines was not OK (privacy of bag owners and/or weak SSI arguments), and photographing screening technology such as working parts of x-rays and ETDs was not OK (SSI arguments).

It also seemed that TSA had told screeners to back off on bugging photographers after some complaints.

I've allowed pat downs to be videotaped and photographed only if they were family and if the person being patted down consented to it. It rarely happens, though.

We've seen enough pictures of pat-downs in the newspapers. Photographing it is legal, or if it is not, it is an easy enough thing to do despite the law.

And on TV, but I expect in both cases, permission was sought and granted beforehand. Given the broad (non-)definition of 'screener interference' you'd be very brave/daring to try it without clearance.

If you videotape the patdown, and the screener engages in objectionable conduct (objectionable by TSA standards, I mean..) is said screener more likely to be disciplined for their actions?

To add fuel to the fire, consider this page. It's pretty clear that the screener is touching the woman's breasts.. and with the front of her hand.

What are the chances that a person would be allowed to hand over his camera to a stranger to tape his own screening if the stranger agreed? We heard about family members taping each other and such as part of a "here's our trip" but if a person is seriously worried about the actions of the TSA then can they have someone else tape them?

I can see the TSA saying no as it would cause too much a delay. But you would think if your getting a secondary it should be within your rights to request that if someone is willing to tape you being screened, with your own camera, then the TSA should allow this to happen.

And yeah I expect some folks to think "since when did the TSA care about your rights" but I'm serious here. Has any TSA screener who frequents here ever have this asked? Would any TSA screener allow this or even consider it?

Looks to me like the screener is touching the upper chest area and not the breast with the front of her hand which by the SOP is ok

Like with news crews if they get a general picture of a group of people they do not have to have permission, but if it is a single person they have to a signed release to use that person likeness,if the screener refuses to give permission the I would think you would have to stop filming

Ah! Permission!

In another thread, implicit agreement was bandied about. If a screener refused to allow videotaping, could we not then refuse scereening unless the vidoetaping was allowed? You still have my impicit agreement to consent to screening but under my rules (vidoetaped)!