Re:Pulling the Curtain on Airport Security [pdf]
by someone234 on Monday August 25, 2014 @09:43AM
(#8221676)
> you have to go for an in-person "interview", which is really just so that they can fingerprint you...
Well, in Finland, we have to submit to fingerprinting to get a new passport these days..
Oh, and Japan started fingerprinting all foreigners a few years ago. You just can't get into the country without it.
Re:Pulling the Curtain on Airport Security [pdf]
by grecy on Monday August 25, 2014 @05:17PM
(#8224296)
As an Australian, I'm fingerprinted and photographed every time I enter the US.
Re:Pulling the Curtain on Airport Security [pdf]
by sib on Monday August 25, 2014 @01:21AM
(#8220716)
I applied to - and was granted - the TSA Precheck clearance. Let's face it; it's $100 for five years. And the interview took well under an hour including waiting time. Works out to be an almost negligible increase in cost compared to the cost of the travel it covers.
The fingerprinting is a different issue.
Re:Pulling the Curtain on Airport Security [pdf]
by ctdonath on Monday August 25, 2014 @10:05AM
(#8221754)
Can that be used to avoid the "pat-down" for those who cannot go thru the metal detector for medical reasons (metallic implants)?
Re:Pulling the Curtain on Airport Security [pdf]
by gergles on Monday August 25, 2014 @11:40AM
(#8222236)
No, in fact, precheck generally means you don't go through the AIT device and instead go through the metal detector. If you refuse to go through the metal detector (or if you set it off, or you are the 'zone 5' "random" person), you get a (hilariously perfunctory) patdown that they use to collect particles for the explosives test device. Nothing like the Freedom Grope™ in the plebe lanes.
Don't worry - you can pay ~$100 to have the privilege of being "randomly" selected for "reduced" screening (ie, pre-9/11, with a metal detector).
Of course, this is certainly not random at all. I don't have a random sample, but based on what I can see, it's very unlikely that they actually select people randomly and fairly[0].
The existence of this program means that we're separating travelers into two groups - those who can afford the $100[1] to be exempt from these draconian checkpoints, and those who can't (or who can, but are still forced to go through them anyway).
[0] https://twitter.com/nickgrossman/status/476745477430734848
[1] Not just the fee, but also the time (you have to go for an in-person "interview", which is really just so that they can fingerprint you... I don't remember them asking any real questions)