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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.]
(Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Monday February 13 2017, @11:40AM
I just realized that a lot of our people are much younger than I am. Maybe even you? Anyway - it's worth reminding the world WHY Israel is the way it is.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Entebbe [wikipedia.org]
It is also worth mentioning that the "shoot the hostage" approach has been attributed to the Israelis, many time. That "shoot the hostage" phrase is not quite accurate. It's more accurate to say "The hostages are already dead." Since you can't kill a dead man, whether he is walking around or not, there is simply no reason NOT to shoot into his vicinity.
Politically, I don't like the Israelies a whole lot. But, militarily, I almost admire them. As your link points out, they're serious. There are no half measures with them. Methods are either effective, or ineffective - and profiling has proven pretty damned effective. Yeah, they get a lot of false positives. They'll grill an innocent twit for hours, or days, until they are CONVINCED that twit is just a twit.
But the alternatives really suck.
(Score: 2) by TheRaven on Monday February 13 2017, @12:16PM
sudo mod me up
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 13 2017, @05:04PM
the innocent are always twits to an authoritarian
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday February 13 2017, @10:47PM
You, however, are a twit who is not innocent.