TSA Agents Continue To Lie And Say You Can't Photograph Or Videotape Checkpoints

from the on-purpose? dept

Fri, Jul 15th 2011 8:39am — Mike Masnick

The TSA recently reiterated that it is entirely legal to photograph or videotape airport checkpoints and security screenings:

Please be assured that TSA� s goal is to protect passenger�s rights, including the right to record at passenger screening checkpoints, while ensuring that passenger screening operations can take place in an effective and efficient manner.

While the TSA may be telling the press that... it appears they forgot to tell the actual TSA agents on the ground who continue to threaten people for filming their activities.

The latest incident took place in Baltimore. The videotape was uploaded on July 10.

The action starts at 1:24 when a woman is videotaping the checkpoint process, waiting for her husband to walk through.

A TSA supervisor confronts her, telling her she is not allowed to videotape the checkpoint.

But she continues to videotape, asking him for a document that confirms it is not allowed.

He tells her he doesn�t have the time to show her, but will gladly call police and then have her removed from the airport.

At 3:16 in the video, a second TSA screener storms up and tells her to stop videotaping, but she continues to do so. When she continues to question their authority, the second TSA screener tells her she is allowed to videotape on the other side of the metal detectors but not once she is inside the checkpoint area.

That, of course, is not true.

These kinds of stories seem to keep popping up every week or so. Even more ridiculous, the guy in the video who claims he's the supervisor says that the checkpoint is "classified." Later, a second TSA official says she has to delete the video. None of that is true. In fact, it's outright ridiculous.

Later, the TSA agents appear to be entirely vindictive, asking for ID so they can write up a report. When asked why, the agent says he finds the questions asked "particularly... disturbing" because "there were children in the background" and the guy had asked whether or not the naked scanners could see his penis.

Once again, it seems like the TSA is making a mockery of the Constitution.

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Filed Under: cameras, tsa, video

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Anonymous DHS contractor, 15 Jul 2011 @ 8:59am

More fun
It's especially entertaining to read this article from a DHS laptop on the DHS network so I get a big "Web Content Denied (DHS)" banner in place of the video.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jul 2011 @ 9:08am

Think of the children!
It's hilarious that the TSA agent is suddenly concerned about the welfare of the children present!
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Phillip Vector (profile), 15 Jul 2011 @ 9:08am

Right to air travel
Interesting.. Today I learned that there IS a right to air travel.

49 U.S.C. � 40103 : US Code - Section 40103: Sovereignty and use of airspace
(2) A citizen of the United States has a public right of transit through the navigable airspace.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jul 2011 @ 9:20am

Re: More fun
Did you know that ostriches don't actually bury their heads in the sand? Some Roman guy just made that up a couple of millennia ago, and nobody bothered to double-check for so long that it's been established as fact.

What I'm saying is, the people at the DHS are not as dumb as ostriches. They are, in fact, dumber than ostriches. Just thought I'd clear that up.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jul 2011 @ 9:22am

Because the govt can invade our privacy but we can't invade their 'Publacy'
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The Incoherent One (profile), 15 Jul 2011 @ 9:23am

Re: Right to air travel
Problem is that they do allow you to travel through the air. There is nothing in that code that says you can't be strip searched before doing so.
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The Incoherent One (profile), 15 Jul 2011 @ 9:26am

Re: Re: Right to air travel
Let me clarify that I do not like the TSA. I have been fortunate enough to avoid having to fly at all since they turned into a Gestapo type force of nimrods who do not know or understand their own policies and procedures.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jul 2011 @ 9:37am

I suspect that it won't be long before the TSA areas are declared as "secured" areas, and that filming will be blocked. This sort of stuff is just antagonistic BS as people who think they stand on the moral high ground try to cause problems.

It's a disgusting waste of time all around.
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Johnsmith999 (profile), 15 Jul 2011 @ 9:39am

Is it just US Citizens
I am British and have travelled to the US many times since 9/11. I have never had either of the situations happen to me. My question is is it just US Citizens who have this disgusting degrading procedure carried out on them?
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Greg G (profile), 15 Jul 2011 @ 10:08am

Re: Is it just US Citizens
No, you've just been extremely lucky, or haven't traveled here recently, since this level of "security" is fairly recent.
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gorehound (profile), 15 Jul 2011 @ 10:24am

I had to go through the full body scanner and then i had to be groped just to fly.guy was pretty much feeling all around my balls.
maybe cause i am a musician playing in 2 bands and happen to have red hair at the time ?
Do suicide bombers dress like punk rock musicians with crazy hair coloring ?
Every time I fly I feel like I am entering a prison !!!
I now fly only once a year just to visit my folks in florida.Any other travels are by road or train or bus.
Thank You TSA !!!
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Anon, 15 Jul 2011 @ 10:34am

Classified?
If it's classified and I lack security clearance then I shouldn't be allowed in the area at all, should I? At the very least I should have to don a blindfold before being subjected to a cancer scan and/or groping.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jul 2011 @ 10:36am

Re:
We should all just do as they say without question. Things always work smoothly that way. Plus, they obviously know what is best for us so who are we to question and "waste time".
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Chosen Reject (profile), 15 Jul 2011 @ 10:40am

Re: Think of the children!
And for what? Because the guy said "penis"? If a child doesn't know what a penis is then the guy asking this question might as well be asking if they'll be able to see his duodenum for all the child is concerned. And if they do know what it is, then they'll understand a question and a concern that an adult has. GASP! HORROR!

Let me get this straight, somebody that gets to legally molest people hears the word penis and the first thing he thinks of is children? WTF?! I can't make those letters bold enough!
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Atkray (profile), 15 Jul 2011 @ 10:42am

Re: Classified?
and a last cigarette. Especially if you don't smoke.
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tuscolablue (profile), 15 Jul 2011 @ 10:45am

TSA
I'm walking a tightrope on this issue. First the TSA agents are mostly untrained police Watanabe's. These type people think they are more than they really are and always overstep the boundary. They are no different than mall security. The other hand I can see why they don't want video of posed of the security area. This is a counterintelligence agents nightmare.
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anothermike, 15 Jul 2011 @ 11:01am

Re: Classified?
Came in here to ask about that because I have worked where classified material is handled. The security in a SCIF is practically nonexistent compared to a TSA checkpoint.
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anothermike, 15 Jul 2011 @ 11:06am

Re: Re: Classified?
Well, not nonexistent exactly, but it's real security countermeasures against defined threats. Not this security theater BS airports have to put up with.
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Someantimalwareguy, 15 Jul 2011 @ 11:08am

Re: TSA
What they want is irrelevant to the official policy stating that such video tapping is not only legal, but authorized. Any TSA screener or supervisor that spouts this non-sense should be severely reprimanded with unpaid time off to make sure that the next time he comes to work, he will be well versed in what the policies are and to stop harassing the public...
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Ninja (profile), 15 Jul 2011 @ 11:09am

Re: Is it just US Citizens
Actually you are the lucky one that has had no problem at all. Or the procedures are ok for you but having to almost strip naked (pun intended) is somewhat common in the airports. I almost had to remove my pants because the metal detector didn't like the zippers/buttons. The TSA agents were polite enough but the whole thing is very annoying.
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someone (profile), 15 Jul 2011 @ 11:11am

TSA must stop using scaners!
Looks like appeals court agrees that these things are illegal.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20079829-281/appeals-court-tsa-must-halt-airport-body- scanners/
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jul 2011 @ 11:16am

Re: Is it just US Citizens
If you're not black,brown ,beautiful or rich you probably wouldn't be checked.
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Ninja (profile), 15 Jul 2011 @ 11:17am

Re: Re: Think of the children!
I didn't understand if the problem was with the said penis (as in penis said by whoever) or for the penis displayed in the scanning machine. Se latter would be really disturbing since if the woman recording the procedure can see the penises of the guys undergoing the screening process then TSA has serious privacy issues to be concerned with and the children are the smallest of their worries.

On a side note, seeing penises and pussies of all ages the entire day must be traumatizing. I wonder if they'll have mental care programs for TSA agents like they have for war veterans?
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tuscolablue (profile), 15 Jul 2011 @ 11:25am

Re: Re: Is it just US Citizens
Just have fun with the idiots. I always opt for the pat down. I ask them if it was good for them or just a warm up for later. I embarrass them, and myself sometimes, but hey I love to have fun.
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Ninja (profile), 15 Jul 2011 @ 11:26am

Re: Re:
I'll take what you said as sarcasm because if it isn't then you have a problem.

If you have a stomach ache and the doctor says he has to operate your brain you won't ask why because he obviously know what's best for you, right?
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Gracey (profile), 15 Jul 2011 @ 11:39am

Re: TSA must stop using scaners!
"Ginsburg said he would not order TSA to immediately halt the full-body screening--which resulted in a near-revolt by air travelers last fall--but instead instructs "the agency promptly to proceed in a manner consistent with this opinion.

So what do we suppose is "proceed in a manner consistent with this opinion"? And will they decide themselves what manner that actually is?

Opinion isn't helpful without something to back it up, like an actual order to cease and desist using the damn things.

On the other hand, where does that leave travelers? With no option except the pat-down procedure?
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tuscolablue (profile), 15 Jul 2011 @ 11:44am

Re: Re: Re:
Were your parents related or did you eat too much lead paint as a child?

Nothing you say or do will change what they do. You may say different, but you can't change government. We as American people will never all agree to do something. The government knows that is dangerous because if we all agreed as one, the politicians would be history.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jul 2011 @ 11:44am

Re: TSA must stop using scaners!
The article specifically says that the court is intentionally not ordering the TSA to stop using the scanners, only that the TSA go through the normal public comment procedures.

Unfortunately.
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taoareyou (profile), 15 Jul 2011 @ 11:46am

Re: Re: Right to air travel
Nothing in that code, but something in the 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says:

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

That should cover "no strip search".
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taoareyou (profile), 15 Jul 2011 @ 11:49am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
"Nothing you say or do will change what they do. You may say different, but you can't change government."

Tell that to the USSR and oh, every other government that was toppled by revolution.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jul 2011 @ 11:57am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
That is why we all should just buy in and get paid. If you can't beat them, join them. Plus, it's fun to pick on all the people who think different.

Ninja, yes this and the original reply are examples of me being facetious.
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JP (profile), 15 Jul 2011 @ 12:04pm

BWI is my home airport that I fly out of regularly. Shortly after 9/11, the airport had no photography signs at the checkpoints that stated the ban was enforced by COMAR 11 03.01.09 B (2). A while back, there was a discussion on flyertalk about the signs and how, thru an airport directive (BWI-300.3), the signs were being enforced under Maryland law, as a violation of said directive.

Last week, I noticed all the signs were covered up and another discussion on flyertalk confirmed that the airport is not enforcing the ban and the directive is no longer listed on the MAA's BWI Directive PASSUR list .

I guess nobody bothered to inform the TSA personnel.
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HothMonster, 15 Jul 2011 @ 12:05pm

Re: Re: Is it just US Citizens
i do not qualify for any of those and I got nut tapped
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tuscolablue (profile), 15 Jul 2011 @ 12:08pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
We are nothing like the former USSR or any other government that was toppled by revolution. We don't have a common cause because half the population can't see the truth if it slapped them in the face. Most people are blind as to what our government is doing to the people. So I stand behind my there is nothing we can do about it.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jul 2011 @ 1:22pm

Re:
I guess nobody bothered to inform the TSA personnel.

I take that to mean no one read it to them, since these troglodytes enforcing rules without meaning or sense obviously have less real life skills than the macaque who took its own picture.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jul 2011 @ 3:00pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
That's about as far from truth as it gets.

Yes, one person can't change the government, one person saying something will never bring about change.

The problem is, people like you stop there.

It's not about the individual shouting from his home, it's about coming together as a collective. It's about the power of people uniting. You can make a law that says someone can't do something all you want, but if everyone (or at the least, enough people) decide not to obey that law, it may as well not be a law. They can put one man in prison, they can't put us all in prison.
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Aerilus, 15 Jul 2011 @ 3:04pm

Re: Re: More fun
But Vultures do shit on themselves to keep from overheating

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey_Vulture#Ecology_and_behavior
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Aerilus, 15 Jul 2011 @ 3:20pm

Re: TSA
Why, any one can learn the same thing by going through airport security you think anyone interested in gaining intelligence on aitport security measures minds going through security.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Jul 2011 @ 3:34pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
That is kind of the point of the Jury Nullification story posted here the other day. A person on a jury has the power to educate himself and his peers to affect the outcome.

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110630/17192214925/artist-behind-go-fk-to-sleep-gives -away-free-illustrated-book-jury-nullification.shtml

"A jury can nullify a law that it believes unjust or wrongly applied to a defendant"
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Chargone (profile), 15 Jul 2011 @ 4:12pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
i find it very easy to agree with your (evidence? logic? point of origin?), not so much your conclusion.

step one of 'doing something about it' is exactly this sort of thing, which raises awareness of the issues. which leads to more people willing and able to do something more substantial.

I'll grant you 'little yet', but not 'nothing'.
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jerseyinthehouse, 16 Jul 2011 @ 6:34am

Why ? Good Grief !!!
I read this and I wonder why would someone want to film their husband coming thru a checkpoint? Because they know it will cause problems and they want that, they want security called?? Or maybe hoping for a patdown to put on youtube and that would be fun?? Trying to prove some point no doubt feeling justified ... when I look at the intention here I don't like it. There are people who would harm us and I really don't think playing games with security at an airport is cool. Not even a little bit!
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Jul 2011 @ 10:43am

It is pretty bad when Al Qaeda shows more respect for the U.S. Constitution than TSA, who makes a mockery of it daily.
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Yuliq Mahbaht, 16 Jul 2011 @ 9:33pm

The Other Side of the Fence
The TSA and the DHS is such an embarrassment to US citizens that live outside of CONUS. We never face this kind of scrutiny or degradation in other countries that are actually more secure than the US.

Maybe, if the DHS wasn�t such a bunch of pricks, people would be willing to spend their money vacationing and doing business in America.
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Walt, 16 Jul 2011 @ 9:36pm

Re: Why ? Good Grief !!!
@jerseyinthehouse...

So how, exactly, is standing out of the way video taping "playing games with security?"

The rules say that video taping is OK. Why she wanted to do it is irrelevant. The rules say it is OK.
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samjoneski, 16 Jul 2011 @ 9:45pm

Re: Right to air travel
Yes, but that doesnt refer to your 'right' to use commercial airlines. You are free to fly in your own private plane.
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samjoneski, 16 Jul 2011 @ 9:48pm

Re: Re: Re: Right to air travel
The 4th amendment does not apply to private property. Last I checked, airport terminals were leased by private companies, making them private property.
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bratwurzt (profile), 18 Jul 2011 @ 6:01am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
at least in Russia bribing is illegal (even if corruption is hard to eradicate). US just renamed it to lobbying. If this kind of power existed 100 years earlier, we'd still be riding horse carriages and innovators with ideas of animal-independant-personal-transport devices would be thrown in jail.
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tuscolablue (profile), 18 Jul 2011 @ 6:25am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
So true about Lobbyist. They are corrupt as the politicians they bribe.
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Aug 2011 @ 6:34am

protect passengers rights you can't be serioushahahahaha
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Krusty, 21 Sep 2011 @ 6:39am

ROTFLMAO!
It's for my "safety", but WHO protects us against the goons & thugs running these scams...er check points?
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Krusty, 21 Sep 2011 @ 6:52am

Re: Re: Re: Is it just US Citizens
Moaning, groaning and gyrations GALORE...LOL!
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Krusty, 21 Sep 2011 @ 7:05am

Re: Why ? Good Grief !!!
You sound like �Anonymous Coward� crying about the radical people not submitting willy nilly to any authority and any request they make no matter how ludicrous or illegal. IF the TSA is doing its job as it should be then filming them doing so shouldn�t be a problem should it?

I guess you forgot about that pesky innocent until PROVEN guilty thingy?
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hmm (profile), 21 Sep 2011 @ 9:19am

why
Why are TSA concerned that children might hear something unpleasant etc from another passenger?

Because they want to only fondle "pure" children that are uncorrupted...until the TSA pervs can get their grubby fingers on them
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bjorb botton, 20 Jun 2012 @ 8:13am

It is amazing that this is even an issue. The people at the checkpoints are people like you and me who are trying to make a living. Leave them alone. It is the people at the TOP of TSA who should be getting our negative vibes. I am grateful for the surveillance Toronto airport, because it make me feel more safe. These people are just doing the best they can, so give them a break.
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Silvia, 16 Dec 2013 @ 8:43pm

Re: RAMPANT THEFT ATL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
I was ripped off by TSA agents in ATl airport on 12-07-2013. A gold necklace (Custom made) spelling my first name was stolen out of my carry-on bag!!! I am not going to accept their version of "reviewing the security tapes" and telling me there was no theft!I have jumped through their hoops and I want to have something done about this. It is a fact that ATL airport is the number 4 airport on the list of airports that will steal you blind! When are they going to do their job? They are here to protect us not steal from us. I have read complaint after complaint about this type of theft by TSA. When will people stand up and do something about this. The TSA excists why??
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