Individual Privacy vs. National Security
Individual Privacy vs. National Security Individual Privacy vs. National Security is something that many people have argued for years. Many people have forgotten what a disturbance September 11, 2001 was to everyone in America. This was the day that 2,992 lives were stolen in the attacks by the Taliban on U. S. soil. Due to this attack the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) along with the Federal Government has put in place many new security regulations. Many people have lost touch with why these regulations were put in place.
As well, many people have lost touch with why TSA is using full body scanners and other security devices. On September 11, 2001 19 members of a global terrorism network called al-Qaeda in a planned and coordinated effort used bladed weapons and fake bombs to hijack four commercial passenger airplanes simultaneously. Two planes were purposely crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center Complex in New York City, a third plane was purposely crashed into the Pentagon building in Washington, D. C. nd a fourth plane crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, when passengers alerted to the other hijackings and crashes tried to regain control of their aircraft from the terrorists. It is believed that terrorists intended to crash that plane into the Capital building. The attacks resulted in the deaths of 2,977 people, mostly civilians, and the 19 hijackers (National Commission Report, 2004). Unfortunately this the September 11th attacks of the World Trade Center was not the first attempt. On February 26, 1993 World Trade Tower One was rattled with explosive bombs from the parking basement.
This was the first attack by terrorists on American soil which frightened many Americans. The bombing resulted in the immediate death of six and left over 1000 injured. The attempt was to knock down the first tower causing a domino effect that would knock down the second tower. Fortunately the attack did not go as planned and they were unable to bring down the towers. Although the bombing did rip a crater into the building that was 150 feet in diameter and five floors deep, rupturing sewer and main lines of electricity. USA Government, 2011) In the wake of both of these attacks, Congress passed several initiatives that would later become controversial, including the Patriot Act and the Homeland Security Act of 2002. Which included the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, a cabinet-level government agency that initially included the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). These agencies were to provide security for America’s transportation system(s). Providing airport security became TSA’s highest profile and most controversial role (National Commission Report, 2004).
Since its creation, TSA has constantly upgraded its equipment and techniques for passenger and baggage screening to better safeguard the American traveling public, but since this is the agency’s most visible activity and one that directly impacts ordinary citizens many of the new screening methods and techniques have been met with criticism from travelers (TSA, 2011) TSA has several types of screening methods available for use. There are x-ray machines and conveyor belts, Magnetometer or walk through metal detectors, hand held metal detectors, Explosive Threat Detection equipment and the most criticized the full body scanners.
One screening process was the requirement of all passengers to remove their shoes before flights for security inspections. This change was brought about following the attempt by al-Qaeda terrorist Richard Reid to set off an explosive device hidden in his shoe during a flight December 22, 2001. At first, passengers accepted the new procedure, but as time passed from the September 11 and Reid’s shoe bomb attack travelers became less and less tolerant of the security measure. TSA, 2011) Passenger screening and security came back to the forefront on December 25 (Christmas Day), 2009, when Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (also known as Umar Abdul Mutallab and Omar Farooq al-Nigeri or more popularly “the underwear bomber”) tried to detonate a plastic explosive device hidden in his underwear while on a flight from Amsterdam, Netherlands to Detroit, Michigan. The device carried by Abdulmutallab was not detectable by any device in wide-spread use at the time, other than a dog trained to detect bombs with its sense of smell.
As a result, advanced imaging technology (AIT) machinery, also known as full-body scanners, were deployed more widely across America. Even though these full-body scanners were recognized by security experts as being better and more effective at detecting prohibited items than the ordinary metal detectors that had been in use for decades passengers objected to the new scanners, because they are able to take images through the subject’s clothing, and their alternative, a physical “pat down” inspection by a TSA security officer similar to what police officers use to search subjects when hey are taken into custody. Critics claim AIT scanner images and pat downs violate the Fourth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, which guarantees the right of citizens to be protected from unreasonable searches, but those same critics have not offered viable alternatives that would safeguard the traveling public from attacks like those of Abdulmutallab. In other words, some activists became more focused on safeguarding their personal privacy and rights at the risk of their personal safety.
Luckily for those critics security experts have been able to upgrade the software of millimeter-wave AIT scanners so that instead of actual under-clothing images of the bodies of actual passengers a generic outline of passengers will be shown with the computer highlighting suspicious areas, leading to additional screening for those travelers. The new system will not require remote viewing of the scans and will speed up the screening process and will hopefully lead to fewer objections for critics and greater safety for air travelers.
According to Peter Kant a Rapiscam executive in an interview with AOL he stated “The revisions “certainly address most of the privacy concerns, He says every passenger would appear on screens as an avatar of “a guy wearing a baseball cap. ” (AOL Travel, 2010) Passengers can choose to opt out of a full-body scan in favor of a pat-down and screening with a hand-held device. One thing that individuals may have that I or many others can relate with is that the personal that is hired to operate scanning machines are not always professionals.
A person that is running the full image scanners should be someone of the medical profession that is not there for perversion reasons. As well as the individuals that are checking x-ray images are actually paying attention and not just talking about weekend plans. These are just from my own experiences and thoughts. Many critics have stated that they were singled out and they felt the TSA attendant / personnel singled them out for kicks or perversion. On another thought many individuals are picked out because you can not tell who is smuggling drugs or who has a weapon.
If you sit and think about it where could you possibly hide a weapon and make it through. How about in a wheel chair, or inside someone’s rectum. This is all things that your average Correctional Officer within a Correctional facility would see on regular bases. After researching and speaking with correctional officers, these officers have seen many things. One told me about an attempt at the Chino, California Correctional Facility where a 60 plus year old women was smuggling drugs into the facility to her son through insertion into her vagina (Sr.
Officer John Pletting). The officers thought it was suspicious that the women would use the restroom every time she visited as soon as she was about to see her son. This alert caused a female officer to do an internal inspection resulting in finding several bags of drugs. Another officer told me of a time when someone brought in an embalmed baby that they used the stomach cavity to smuggle in illegal narcotics and weapons (Officer Mike Harden).
Another case that these gentleman told me of was an individual that would come in with parts (paper clips, tape, nail files, tacks) Common items that would be sold off within the prison to make individual homemade weapons. If individuals are willing to do this within a correctional facility what do you think may happen at TSA scanning areas? If you look at the possibilities that might or could happen you may think the full body scanners are there for good reason.
As stated earlier many people have lost touch with why TSA is using full body scanners and other security devices. Full body scanners and other security devices help protect each and every one of us. The full body scanners do show TSA personnel what is under your clothing, but what is worse having someone see what you look like under your clothing or risking the lives of hundreds or as we have seen first hand thousands. Many people like to criticize what the U. S. government and TSA are doing but they are only looking to keep civilians as well as our country safe.
In my own personal opinion if the individuals that are criticizing the full body scanners had lost someone in the September 11, 2001 attacks or reminded how traumatic that experience was they would have a different thought when walking through the scanners. If you are criticizing the safety attempts of TSA then you obviously have something to hide. If the full body scanners stop one possible suicide bomber or one person transporting illegal narcotics or weapons I think they are worth the criticism. References AOL Travel, Inc. (2010, September) TSA Testing Privacy Upgrades for Full Body Scanners
Fran Golden Posted Sep 16th 2010 retrieved from http://news. travel. aol. com/2010/09/16/tsa-testing-privacy-upgrades-for-full-body- scanners/ Frueh, S.. (2009, January). PREVENTING TERRORISM, PROTECTING PRIVACY. The National Academies in Focus, 8(3), 4-5. Retrieved August 2, 2011, from ABI/INFORM Trade & Industry. (Document ID: 1665734281). King, Wolf Seek to Reconstitute 9/11 Commission :House Homeland Security Committee News Release. (2011, July). Congressional Documents and Publications, Retrieved August 1, 2011, from Research Library. Document ID: 2412671101). LERNER, K. LEE. “September 11 Terrorist Attacks on the United States. ” Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security. 2004. Retrieved July 25, 2011 from Encyclopedia. com: http://www. encyclopedia. com/doc/1G2-3403300685. html Transportation Security Administration (2011) Passenger Screening retrieved from http://www. tsa. gov/what_we_do/screening/security_checkpoints. shtm USA Government (2011) Defense and International Relations retrieved from http://www. usa. gov/index. shtml
