Today, the TSA issued a press release stating they were "taking the next steps to further enhance passenger privacy." How? They've decided to upgrade their scanners to a version they could have gone with in the first place and saved a great deal of time and expense. I wrote about this in 2009 when the TSA first started using their controversial screeners in some airports. When given the opportunity to choose slightly more expensive machines (estimated to be about $10,000 more) used by high-level security firms and proven to be effective without revealing detailed images of bodies, the TSA opted to go with the slightly cheaper machines that were controversial from the beginning.
If it were about security or even cost-savings to the taxpayer, that would be one thing.
But it wasn't. Because now they are making the change. And the cost was always more with the revealing machines because it required two TSA personnel to the the one required by the newer machines. My original article achieved a hot response from "James" who states he is a "TSA employee" who wrote: "...my thought is-do you want us to stand around and look pretty, or do you want real security?"
James, the problem is that I don't want you to stand around and look pretty. Nor do I want taxpayer dollars and airport security fees to be used to pay two of you when only one is needed.
And I don't want to have my privacy violated for no better reason than keeping people on the federal payroll.
For more, see the Fox News story.
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