The TSA (Post your bad Experience by the Washington Post)

[Bo Diddley]

New York TSA worker accused of sexually abusing passenger

Oquendo then allegedly motioned for the woman to follow him to a bathroom, the statement said. When she asked that a female TSA employee screen her, the officer ordered her to face a mirror and raise her arms...

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

I hope our esteemed poster HBCoug had a good experience today with TSA as he traveled!

[Uncle Ted]

TSA paid $1.4 million for Randomizer app that chooses left or right
When someone starts learning how to code, one of the first things they create is a program that generates and outputs random numbers. In most cases it’s an incredibly simple program to make because your programming language of choice has a randomizing function available to use.


Keeping the above in mind, I now turn your attention to the Transport Security Administration and the Randomizer app they use every day. If you’ve traveled through US airports in recent years then you’re well aware of the TSA Pre-Check lanes. It is a faster way to get through airport security for low-risk travelers, and allows you to keep your shoes and belt on.


TSA Pre-Check is faster, but it also includes random searches and that’s where the Randomizer app comes in. The app randomly chooses whether travelers go left or right in the Pre-Check lane. That way, nobody can predict which lane each person is assigned to and therefore can’t figure out how to avoid the random checks.


Here’s the app in action:

So how much did the TSA pay to have the Randomizer iPad app developed? At least $336,413.59.


That’s $336,413.59 for an app that does nothing more than randomly select left or right a few hundred times an hour.


We know this thanks to developer Kevin Burke, who submitted a Freedom of Information Act request asking for details about the app. And if you think paying over $336,000 for an app like this is ridiculous, well, that’s just the tip of the iceberg.


The contract for the TSA Randomizer app was won by IBM. The total paid for the project is actually $1.4 million, but the cost is not broken down in the documents Burke received in response to his request. It could be IBM supplied all the iPads and training as well as the app itself. Even so, the cost of the project is crazy. It’s an app that is just randomly selects left or right.


I understand that software used for security checks at airports must be rigorously tested and reviewed, but I have a hard time believing such checks cost $1.4 million. In fact, I’m sure there’s many reputable developers out there who’d supply the TSA with the same app for a few thousand dollars.

http://www.geek.com/apps/tsa-paid-1-...right-1651337/


I guess the TSA didn't know you can just ask google to flip a coin for free.

[Non Sequitur]

As an employee of IBM, I would say that it was $1.4 million well spent.

[Uncle Ted]

Not exactly a TSA story but close enough...

I’ll never bring my phone on an international flight again. Neither should you.

A few months ago I wrote about how you can encrypt your entire life in less than an hour. Well, all the security in the world can’t save you if someone has physical possession of your phone or laptop, and can intimidate you into giving up your password.

And a few weeks ago, that’s precisely what happened to a US citizen returning home from abroad.

On January 30th, Sidd Bikkannavar, a US-born scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory flew back to Houston, Texas from Santiago, Chile.


On his way through through the airport, Customs and Border Patrol agents pulled him aside. They searched him, then detained him in a room with a bunch of other people sleeping in cots. They eventually returned and said they’d release him if he told them the password to unlock his phone.

Bikkannavar explained that the phone belonged to NASA and had sensitive information on it, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. He eventually yielded and unlocked his phone. The agents left with his phone. Half an hour later, they returned, handed him his phone, and released him.
[...]
If a police officer were to stop you on the street of America and ask you to unlock your phone and give it to them, these amendments would give you strong legal ground for refusing to do so.


But unfortunately, the US border isn’t technically the US, and you don’t have either of these rights at the border.


It’s totally legal for a US Customs and Border Patrol officer to ask you to unlock your phone and hand it over to them. And they can detain you indefinitely if you don’t. Even if you’re a American citizen.
[...]
With a lot of hard work on our part, enlightenment will triumph. Privacy will be restored. And we will beat back the current climate of fear that’s confusing people into unnecessarily giving up their rights.


In the meantime, follow the Boy Scouts of America Motto: always be prepared. The next time you plan to cross a border, leave your phone at home.

https://medium.freecodecamp.com/ill-...e5f#.1enu87s8w

I think I will erase/wipe phone before re-entering the U.S. but leave just one picture on it:

[Uncle Ted]

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[Bo Diddley]

I had a great time at the Terminal 2 TSA checkpoint at SLC yesterday. I'm still wearing a medical boot from surgery on my foot, so I asked the TSA agent if I needed to take it off and send it through the machine. This was the Pre-Check line, so I didn't know if the leave-your-shoes-on still applied. "No, you'll be fine. The machines aren't sensitive enough to be set off by that." My mistake was to not think that through very clearly, because the boot has two metal supports going up each side of the boot. But by the time the metal detector alarm went off, I was locked into a string of events now out of my control.

First, they sent me through the body scanner, and had me pat down my own boot, they swabbed my hands, and inserted the swab into the analyzer. It came back positive for whatever they check for. I'm assuming it was gun powder residue from the rifle scopes I had loaded into my carry on bag that morning.



Next, they had me take a seat so they could run my boot through the X-ray machine, and said they'd have to pat me down. They asked if I wanted to go to a private room, because the pat down would be VERY thorough. Yeah, like what I want is for you to have your way with me and no witnesses. I remember the story of what happened to that last lady...

He gave me a very thorough pat down, and then swabbed his gloves to run it through their detector again. But before he did, he swabbed MY hands again. Oops. The other agent threw it away, and gave him another swab for his gloves. Knowing that he had contaminated his gloves, I was nervous that the detector would pick something up again. Fortunately it didn't, and I was on my way. If it did, I wonder what their protocol was, and if I'd be escorted to another room for a strip search. How ironic would that have been from my prison guard days?

My take-away is that whenever I handle military equipment prior to a TSA screening, I'm going to wash my hands prior to screening.

[Uncle Ted]

Leave your star wars thermal detonator coke replicas at Disney... They look too close to the real thing.

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