Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by janrinok on Sunday February 12 2017, @09:59PM   Printer-friendly
from the come-fly-the-discriminatory-skies dept.

TechDirt reports

Thanks to FOIA requests (and lawsuits), the ACLU has gathered enough documents to provide a comprehensive report [PDF] on the worthlessness of the TSA's "Behavioral Detection" program. Meant to give the agency a better way of proactively thwarting acts of terrorism, the program instead opts for lazy profiling, dubious readings of behavioral cues, and junk science.

The documents[1] show the evolution of the behavior detection program and make clear the extent to which it is a program of surveillance of unsuspecting travelers based on unreliable indicators. "Behavior detection officers", some of them dressed in plain clothes, scrutinize travelers at airports for over 90 behaviors that the TSA associates with stress, fear, or deception, looking for what the TSA calls signs of "mal-intent". The reliability of these so-called indicators is not supported by the scientific studies in the TSA files. The behavior detection officers may then engage travelers in "casual conversation" that is actually an effort to probe the basis for any purported signs of deception. When the officers think they perceive those behaviors, they follow the travelers, subject them to additional screening, and at times bring in law enforcement officers who can investigate them further.

The TSA has repeatedly claimed that the behavior detection program is grounded in valid science, but the records that the ACLU obtained show that the TSA has in its possession a significant body of research that contradicts those claims.

[1] Duplicate link in TFA.

[Ed. Note: Non mobile link here to source article here.]


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 12 2017, @11:25PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 12 2017, @11:25PM (#466345)

    Yuuuuup. I am shocked that any soylentil would think TSA is useful.

  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday February 13 2017, @12:01AM

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday February 13 2017, @12:01AM (#466363) Journal

    Yuuuuup. I am shocked that any soylentil would think TSA is useful.

    To be honest, the question was "If it's based on junk science, why do behavioural screening seems to work for Israel and fails in US conditions?"

    The answer is "While likely it produces the same rate of false positives - a bit higher success rate than pure random, I assume - the Israelis use it as a pretext for thorough searches because they can afford it and the risk of not conducting thorough searches outweighs the cost. Plus, due to the circumstances, Israel doesn't shy from racial profiling".

    Security is always a trade-of between the cost of staying secure and the risk one takes for staying un/less-secure.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 13 2017, @01:02AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 13 2017, @01:02AM (#466390)

      Its more like the behavioural stuff israel does is far more comprehensive.
      The TSA's BDOs are all into doing random encounters with people and looking for bullshit like micro-tells. I almost never fly, but the one time I did about 5 years ago I ran into a BDO guy. He didn't say that's what he was doing, but it was so ridiculously obvious in how he tried to engage me in "disarming conversation." It was all I could do to hold back from telling him I knew he was trying to BDO me, I figured giving him shit about it would just get me into shit that I didn't need.

      The israel stuff starts with observing the vehicle as it approaches the airport and watching each person each step of the way from there.
      Also they've got background dossiers on everyone with a ticket, and not half-assed shit like the TSA has for people that pay $99 to sign-up for "pre-check."

      Comparing israel's airport security to the TSA is like comparing the US navy to the harbor patrol, for arizona.

    • (Score: 2) by Sulla on Monday February 13 2017, @01:12AM

      by Sulla (5173) on Monday February 13 2017, @01:12AM (#466395) Journal

      Thanks, that is what I was getting at. Whole thing is security theater designed to take away more freedoms without making anything more secure.

      --
      Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam