Electronic Privacy Information Center sues TSA over naked body scanner privacy violations

Is your mode of travel one of the health decisions you are going to have to face? Right now travelers are having to choose between bombarding themselves with radiation and having a naked picture of themselves potentially floating around the world or submitting themselves to the humiliation of opting out and being ‘hand searched’ for security. So far I have not had to face that decision personally. We have been able to avoid the airports in the last few months. At this point cars, buses and trains seem a lot safer than commercial airlines.

 

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The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) is proceeding with a lawsuit against the TSA over its use of naked body scanners. Filed in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, EPIC's lawsuit asks for the courts to halt the US government's use of naked body scanners altogether.

EPIC has brought claims under the Administrative Procedure Act, the Privacy Act, the Video Voyeurism Prevention Act, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and the Fourth Amendment. (The TSA's naked body scanners and aggressive pat-down techniques violate all these federal laws and Constitutional protections.)

That effort has now been joined by consumer advocate Ralph Nader, who agrees that the TSA's use of naked body scanners must be challenged. EPIC's lawsuit against the TSA alleges that the intrusive pat-downs are used by the TSA as a retaliatory punishment for those passengers who choose to opt out of the body scanners.

The EPIC lawsuit also submits that the capture of naked body scanner images is itself a violation of federal law. Furthermore, there is concern that once those images are captured, they could be swapped by TSA employees because the naked body scanner machines are built with image capture and storage capabilities in addition to Ethernet networking.

At the same time, the pilots union Allied Pilots Association has urged all pilots to reject the naked body scanners and request to opt out, citing health hazards from radiation exposure as well as an assault on the dignity of airline pilots.

The Libertarian Party has now officially backed this lawsuit against the TSA. Libertarian Party Chair Mark Hinkle said, "The TSA should end the strip-search machine program immediately. We've reached a point where our government has no qualms about humiliating us. We encourage Americans to call their newly-elected members of Congress and tell them that they don't want this expensive, worthless, intrusive, unconstitutional program."

The Fourth 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."

What part of "unreasonable searches and seizures" does the TSA not understand?

As long as these TSA violations of our Constitutional rights continue, I urge you to avoid traveling by air altogether.