Pilot Group Urges Pilots To Refuse Naked Backscatter Scans, And Avoid Groping Pat Downs

(Mis)Uses of Technology

from the you-realize-they-pilot-the-planes,-right? dept

We recently had the story of a pilot who ran into some trouble after refusing to go through one of the “naked” backscatter scanners at the airport, and then refusing to go through a much more invasive “pat down” search as payment for skipping the scanner. Over the last few weeks, airports in the US have stepped up the use of both (though, it should be noted, I’m writing this particular post on an airplane and did not have to go through either such “search” in order to do so). It appears that the pilot in question was not the only one miffed at the rules. Apparently the head of the Allied Pilots Association (which represents American Airlines pilots among others), Dave Bates, has sent out a note to the members complaining about these new security procedures, suggesting that pilots refuse the new scanners, and insist that any additional pat down must be done in private, rather than out in the open. It does seem rather silly to give pilots this kind of treatment since they already pilot the damn plane. If they wanted to do something bad to the plane, they already have the ability to do so.

Filed Under: backscatter, pilots, scans

Movie Star Claims Heathrow Airport Staff Printed Out, Circulated, His Naked Body Images

(Mis)Uses of Technology

from the privacy? dept

There’s been a big push over the last couple months to get those full body scanners installed in more airports. These scanners, if you don’t recall, basically create a “naked” image of the person in them. This has resulted in all sorts of (mostly reasonable) concerns about privacy (well, and dignity) of those passing through the devices. Defenders of these systems insist that the images are seen by someone remotely who can’t see the person, so there’s no way to connect the image to the person, and the scans are deleted immediately.

Except… perhaps that’s not always true. Eric points us to the news that Indian movie star Shahrukh Khan (oddly, I just saw one of his movies) is claiming that the staff at London’s Heathrow airport had not just connected his scan to who he was, but also printed it out and circulated it among some staff.

I have to admit, this one could use a bit more proof, because my understanding was that the scan itself is done in a remote location, but Khan seems to indicate that staff had the printouts almost immediately:

“I was a little scared. Something happens [inside the scans], and I came out. Then I saw these girls — they had these printouts. I looked at them. I thought they were some forms you had to fill. I said ‘give them to me’ — and you could see everything inside. So I autographed them for them,” stated Khan.

I could definitely see how another security or airport staffer might alert whoever was watching the remote scans of who was passing through the scanner. The last few times I’ve seen these devices used in airports the other security staff had radio contact with the person watching the scans (for obvious reasons). But having multiple printouts immediately distributed? It’s not clear how that would happen.

Update: Yup, as we suspected, this story appears to be bogus. Security officials are denying it ever happened, and apparently Khan has some movie coming out about being detained by airport security… so… yeah, PR stunt.

Filed Under: airport security, heathrow, privacy, scans, skahrukh khan

FTC Shuts Down More Bogus Spyware Scan Companies

Scams

from the here-we-go-again dept

A few years back the FTC shut down some scam fake anti-spyware companies that would advertise “free scans” of your computer and would then (of course) tell you you had spyware. The scam, of course, was that for a fee of only $30 or $40, you could buy their “software” that would supposedly rid your computer of spyware. Of course, your computer probably didn’t already have spyware, and the software you bought certainly wouldn’t do anything towards ridding your computer of any actual spyware. It looks like some new scammers have picked up where the old ones left off, because the FTC is announcing, yet again, that it’s been able to shut down some bogus anti-spyware operations. Apparently, this operation was slightly more scammy, because advertising networks have stopped accepting ads for such bogus anti-spyware. So, instead, they pretended to place ads for legitimate companies, but then used some code to swap out the “good” ad with the bogus anti-spyware ad.

Filed Under: ftc, scams, scans, spyware