“OK sir, step away from the Hustler and put your hands on top of your head!” OK, the likelihood that you’ll hear someone being taken down like that at TSA screening station aren’t very high. But, according to an article from Wired magazine airport screeners are keeping tabs on your reading material. Just for kicks I think I will now travel with dogeared copies of “Catcher in the Rye”, “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” and Michael Moore’s “Stupid White Men”. Now that will keep ‘em busy for a few.
From Wired:
“There is so much sensitive information in the documents that it is clear that Homeland Security is not playing straight with the American people,” Scannell said.
The documents show a tiny slice of the massive airline-record collection stored by the government, as well as the screening records mined for the controversial Department of Homeland Security passenger-rating system that assigns terrorist scores to travelers entering and leaving the country, including U.S. citizens.
The so-called Automated Targeting System scrutinizes every airline passenger entering or leaving the country using classified rules that tell agents which passengers to give extra screening to and which to deny entry or exit from the country.
The system relies on data ranging from the government’s 700,000-name terrorism watchlist to data included in airline-travel database entries, known as Passenger Name Records, which airlines are required to submit to the government.
On a lighter note there is also the guidlelines for TSA staff (as posted by The Onion)
Tags: TSA, Airport Screeners, Privacy
