“Naked machines” update
A while ago, I promised to make a post going into more detail on the issue of airport security, and how the backscatter machines that show people’s naked bodies are a violation of privacy rights and of the Constitution. However, I found this absolutely awesome article at the Campaign for Liberty which says it better than I could. This is probably the best article that I have ever read, on any topic, in any newspaper, magazine, or website. In it, he says everything that I’ve always believed. It makes me happy that someone I’ve never met before thinks exactly the same thing I do. You simply must read this article:
“Liberty is an absolute” by Tom Mullen
Having said that, there are also a few updates in the battle against the naked machines. As you may recall, the TSA decided to switch from making everyone go through metal detectors and only go through the naked machines if they set the metal detector off, to making everyone go through the naked machines. This is obviously a change for the worse.
Thankfully, Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) introduced a bill restricting these machines to people who fail the primary screening method (metal detectors), and the House of Representatives passed it! This bill is the least the government could do to secure people’s privacy rights at the airport. I think it would be ideal if the naked machines were banned entirely, as well as the practices of making people take their shoes off and take out all the liquids that they’re carrying. Chaffetz’s bill is very moderate and reasonable, and the Senate would have to be crazy not to pass it. I don’t know when they’re going to vote on it, though. Unfortunately, there has been very little media coverage of the whole naked machine issue, and Congress is more focused on “health care reform” than stopping everyone who boards a plane from being forcibly strip searched.
Also, the Electronic Privacy Information Center is campaigning against the naked machines, and the TSA responded last month to their criticism by simply saying exactly what they’ve been saying since the naked machines were invented: your face is blurred, the officer who sees the naked images is not near you, and the images are never stored or transmitted. These things may be true, but they really don’t make anything any better. The reason why EPIC, myself, and others who believe in privacy rights oppose the naked machines is not because they reveal people’s faces or identities, but because they reveal people’s naked bodies. None of the TSA’s so-called privacy measures do anything about this. I don’t want people looking at my naked body, even if they don’t know my name or see my face.
I will blog again if there are any significant developments. I hope there will be soon, since I’m not boarding an airplane if I have to go through the naked machines first.