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There's and App for that TSA Random Search
Geek.com [geek.com] reports on the Randomizer app that TSA agents use to send random Pre-Check cleared passengers for an additional search.
A TSA agent stands officiously at the head of a queueing station and taps an iPad screen which then shows a left or right arrow, to send a passenger to the left or right based on what percentage are to be queued for random searches on any given day. These are all "Pre Checked" passengers, well known to the TSA as trusted frequent passengers. But some are still randomly searched.
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.
It runs only on an iPad, and it supposedly cost $336,413.59 to develop. But the App itself is trivial.
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 it can be built in 10 minutes [gizmodo.com] and the code is trivial.
While the price tag on the entire effort remains $1.4 million according to the FOIA received by Burke, the TSA claims the Randomizer app itself only cost $47,400, which leaves even more contract fees unexplained.
