Story first appeared in the Associated Press.
Air travelers at Raleigh-Durham International Airport will soon be able to board their planes without images of their unclothed bodies being viewed by security personnel.
The federal Transportation Security Administration said Wednesday it will upgrade its full-body scanners with new software designed to protect travelers' privacy.
The so-called Automated Target Recognition software eliminates the image of an actual passenger on the screen, replacing it with a generic outline. Passengers will be able to see the same image viewed by security officers. The software is designed to recognize items in the image that could pose a security threat.
A TSA spokeswoman said it will be several months before the new software is installed in the 40 airports that have the machines, including RDU.
Showing posts with label Airline Security. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Airline Security. Show all posts
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
TSA plans to overhaul Security Screening Plans
LA Times
Scrambling to plug holes in cargo security revealed by the bomb plot in Yemen, the Transportation Security Administration announced Tuesday it was planning an overhaul of its passenger and cargo screening methods.
Top Homeland Security Department officials met all through the weekend to decide what long-term steps to take to address the vulnerability of cargo and to identify remaining gaps in security.
TSA director John Pistole, in a speech in Germany, said he would like to see more advanced screening technology, better information sharing, more flexible search procedures that might change based on a particular threat, and less emphasis on "cookie cutter" approaches like the system-wide ban on containers that hold more than 3 ounces of liquid in carry-on luggage.
The Yemen plot highlighted the capabilities of a "determined and creative enemy," Pistole said at a meeting of the global air industry in Frankfurt. He said he would "reshape our security approach" to improve the agency's focus on intelligence and new technology.
One measure discussed over the weekend would require the shipping industry to transmit more detailed information on cargo before it departs for U.S. soil.
Without multiple pieces of intelligence, the bombs sent last week would have likely made it to within hours of landing in the U.S. "If the target had been the planes, that would have been too late," said an administration official not authorized to speak on the record.
Intelligence analysis of a tip from a Saudi militant combined with information about a dry run shipment of three packages from Yemen to Chicago in September enabled authorities to locate the two bombs on Friday, officials said.
"It is evident that had we not had the intelligence, our security countermeasures would not have identified these improvised explosive devices," said Frank Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University.
The dry runs may have been tests by Al Qaeda to better understand how the cargo system works, said a U.S. official not authorized to speak on the record. The three earlier packages from Yemen bound for Chicago were identified as "solid intelligence" linked to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a U.S. official said. No explosives were found, but the incident put the system on alert.
At the moment, package details are transmitted electronically to Homeland Security's National Targeting Center four hours before a cargo flight lands in the U.S. The packages coming from Yemen would have probably been considered high-risk and flagged for screening after the flight landed — which might have been too late.
Pistole, who brings extensive counter-terrorism experience to the job from his 26-year career at the FBI, highlighted the liquids ban as an example of a cookie-cutter approach to security. "We shouldn't spend time trying to decipher between 3 ounces and 100 milliliters," he said.
In the future, Pistole wants to see the deployment of more trace technology that might pick up evidence of explosives like PETN, or pentaerythritol tetranitrate, which was used in the Yemen plot and by the 2009 Christmas Day bomber, and new machines that can scan liquids to determine whether they are a threat.
For air cargo security, Homeland Security officials are exploring beefing up data-mining methods to select dangerous cargo for screening, similar to the methods used to identify dangerous people on flights. Officials are also turning their sights to the screening methods used by companies and other countries.
"We rely on those that ship to do the screening overseas," said an administration official who was not authorized to speak on the record. "We are looking at how to beef those requirements up."
Some cargo companies don't have data on every parcel that has been consolidated into its pallet containers. But big shipping companies like FedEx and UPS are able to give the U.S. the data in the electronic shipping record for every parcel. This includes names, addresses and phone numbers.
"Maybe there is a changing tone at TSA — there is an understanding that screening alone for items in past attacks may not be enough for a future attacks," said Rick Nelson, director of the homeland security and counter-terrorism program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. Cargo is different from passengers, Nelson said, adding: "The cost to screen all the cargo in the global systems is unaffordable and impractical. You can't do that."
An official in the Embassy of Yemen in Washington said Tuesday that although there had been no new arrests in the investigation into the cargo bombs, "we have a laser focus now on the Saudi bomb maker" identified as Ibrahim Hassan Asiri.
"Commando units will arrive in Marib" province, where they believe Asiri is hiding, on Wednesday, the official said. "Let the games begin."
Meanwhile, the White House said President Obama spoke with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to discuss joint efforts against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The president highlighted that the U.S. relationship with Yemen was focused on counter-terrorism issues, "as well as building a stable and prosperous Yemen through economic and humanitarian assistance."
Saleh reportedly "made a full commitment" to cooperate with the U.S. as well as Britain and the United Arab Emirates.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Airport `Naked Image' Scanners in U.S. May Get Privacy Upgrades
Bloomberg
Holli Powell, a Phoenix medical- software consultant who flies every week, says she avoids getting into airport security lines that end at what she calls a humiliating full-body scanner.
“Those scanners, I feel, are above and beyond,” Powell, 35, said in an interview. They generate “nearly naked images.”
The concerns of travelers such as Powell, which led privacy advocates to sue the government, may soon be eased. L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. and OSI Systems Inc.’s Rapiscan, makers of the scanners for U.S. airports, are delivering software upgrades that show a generic figure rather than an actual image of a passenger’s body parts. The new display would mark sections of a person’s body that need to be checked.
The revisions “certainly address most of the privacy concerns,” Peter Kant, a Rapiscan executive vice president, said in an interview. Every passenger will generate an avatar that “looks like a guy wearing a baseball cap,” he said.
The Transportation Security Administration aims to add the software to the machines, which sparked complaints, as more airports get the scanners. As of Aug. 27, 194 of the devices were in use at 51 U.S. airports, an almost fivefold increase from six months ago,
“TSA continues to explore additional privacy protections for imaging technology,” Greg Soule, a spokesman for the security agency, said in an e-mail. “Testing is currently under way.”
The agency is accelerating use of the scanners after the U.S. said Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight on approach to Detroit Dec. 25 by igniting explosives in his underpants. The 1,000 scanners due at airports by the end of next year will put the devices at more than half the security lanes at major U.S. airports.
28 Airports
The 28 airports getting scanners in the second half of this year include New York’s Kennedy and Philadelphia, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Houston, Miami, Baltimore, Minneapolis and Seattle, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in July.
New York-based L-3, which already has one of its revised scanners in use at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, presented its upgrade to the U.S. security agency Aug. 31, and the technology is now being reviewed in a federal laboratory, according to the company.
“We look forward to a successful trial and certification process with the TSA this fall,” Bill Frain, an L-3 senior vice president for government sales, said in a statement.
OSI’s Rapiscan, based in Torrance, California, plans to present software for its machines this month, Kant said. The software change will be tested by the agency, he said.
302 Scanners
L-3 and Rapiscan shared a $47.9 million contract in April for 302 of the scanners. L-3 will get $31.7 million to build 202 machines and Rapiscan $16.2 million for 100. The funds were to come from last year’s $814 billion stimulus law.
The software changes are “a pretty substantial development” for the companies and “something that TSA has wanted,” said Jeffrey Sural, an attorney for Alston & Bird LLP in Washington and a former assistant administrator at the security agency. “There’s still a long way to go,” and months will be spent testing the technology, he said.
Using full-body imaging technology is voluntary, though passengers who refuse to be scanned may be frisked by U.S. security employees. The agency said data show when passengers were offered the choice of the scanner or alternate screening such as a pat-down, more than 98 percent chose scanners.
Separate Room
Machines now at airports are monitored by a TSA employee in a separate room, to prevent passengers and security workers at the checkpoint from viewing the full-body image that sees through undergarments. The software upgrade would replace the images with an avatar and alert authorities to a potential hidden threat, eliminating the need to keep an employee in a remote room.
The upgrade “really reduces the personnel costs,” Rapiscan’s Kant said. The Government Accountability Office estimated in March that agency staffing costs could climb $2.4 billion over seven years from expanded use of scanners, assuming current staffing requirements.
Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a civil liberties group that sued the agency in July over the devices, said revising the machine software “makes a lot of sense” from an engineering standpoint.
Linking, Saving Images
The upgrades don’t resolve privacy questions, said Rotenberg, whose Washington-based group objects to the use of the devices as a primary screening tool. The agency may someday decide it wanted to record passenger images or link scan results to traveler names, he said.
“Over time there’s every reason to believe TSA would want to know the identities of passengers, because it would make threat detection more informed,” Rotenberg said.
Powell said she will continue to allow extra time before her flights to find the line that won’t force her to walk through the body scanners, even if they are upgraded. The devices are still capable of transmitting and storing images, she said, and that “is scary.”
“Those scanners, I feel, are above and beyond,” Powell, 35, said in an interview. They generate “nearly naked images.”
The concerns of travelers such as Powell, which led privacy advocates to sue the government, may soon be eased. L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. and OSI Systems Inc.’s Rapiscan, makers of the scanners for U.S. airports, are delivering software upgrades that show a generic figure rather than an actual image of a passenger’s body parts. The new display would mark sections of a person’s body that need to be checked.
The revisions “certainly address most of the privacy concerns,” Peter Kant, a Rapiscan executive vice president, said in an interview. Every passenger will generate an avatar that “looks like a guy wearing a baseball cap,” he said.
The Transportation Security Administration aims to add the software to the machines, which sparked complaints, as more airports get the scanners. As of Aug. 27, 194 of the devices were in use at 51 U.S. airports, an almost fivefold increase from six months ago,
“TSA continues to explore additional privacy protections for imaging technology,” Greg Soule, a spokesman for the security agency, said in an e-mail. “Testing is currently under way.”
The agency is accelerating use of the scanners after the U.S. said Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight on approach to Detroit Dec. 25 by igniting explosives in his underpants. The 1,000 scanners due at airports by the end of next year will put the devices at more than half the security lanes at major U.S. airports.
28 Airports
The 28 airports getting scanners in the second half of this year include New York’s Kennedy and Philadelphia, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Houston, Miami, Baltimore, Minneapolis and Seattle, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in July.
New York-based L-3, which already has one of its revised scanners in use at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, presented its upgrade to the U.S. security agency Aug. 31, and the technology is now being reviewed in a federal laboratory, according to the company.
“We look forward to a successful trial and certification process with the TSA this fall,” Bill Frain, an L-3 senior vice president for government sales, said in a statement.
OSI’s Rapiscan, based in Torrance, California, plans to present software for its machines this month, Kant said. The software change will be tested by the agency, he said.
302 Scanners
L-3 and Rapiscan shared a $47.9 million contract in April for 302 of the scanners. L-3 will get $31.7 million to build 202 machines and Rapiscan $16.2 million for 100. The funds were to come from last year’s $814 billion stimulus law.
The software changes are “a pretty substantial development” for the companies and “something that TSA has wanted,” said Jeffrey Sural, an attorney for Alston & Bird LLP in Washington and a former assistant administrator at the security agency. “There’s still a long way to go,” and months will be spent testing the technology, he said.
Using full-body imaging technology is voluntary, though passengers who refuse to be scanned may be frisked by U.S. security employees. The agency said data show when passengers were offered the choice of the scanner or alternate screening such as a pat-down, more than 98 percent chose scanners.
Separate Room
Machines now at airports are monitored by a TSA employee in a separate room, to prevent passengers and security workers at the checkpoint from viewing the full-body image that sees through undergarments. The software upgrade would replace the images with an avatar and alert authorities to a potential hidden threat, eliminating the need to keep an employee in a remote room.
The upgrade “really reduces the personnel costs,” Rapiscan’s Kant said. The Government Accountability Office estimated in March that agency staffing costs could climb $2.4 billion over seven years from expanded use of scanners, assuming current staffing requirements.
Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a civil liberties group that sued the agency in July over the devices, said revising the machine software “makes a lot of sense” from an engineering standpoint.
Linking, Saving Images
The upgrades don’t resolve privacy questions, said Rotenberg, whose Washington-based group objects to the use of the devices as a primary screening tool. The agency may someday decide it wanted to record passenger images or link scan results to traveler names, he said.
“Over time there’s every reason to believe TSA would want to know the identities of passengers, because it would make threat detection more informed,” Rotenberg said.
Powell said she will continue to allow extra time before her flights to find the line that won’t force her to walk through the body scanners, even if they are upgraded. The devices are still capable of transmitting and storing images, she said, and that “is scary.”
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Higher Airline Baggage Fees Create Opportunity For Luggage Shippers
LA Times
The announcements this week that three of the country's largest airlines are again increasing baggage fees came as bad news for airline passengers, who must already pay for such extras as blankets, pillows and snacks.
But the higher fees are good news to Zeke Adkins, co-founder of Luggage Forward, a Boston business that ships luggage door-to-door for travelers who want to avoid the hassles of checking bags at the airport.
"Every time the airlines increase their fees, it translates into increased bookings for us," he said.
He is not alone in seeing the higher airline fees as an opportunity.
United Parcel Service Inc., FedEx Corp. and the U.S. Postal Service have all encouraged airline passengers to ship their luggage instead of hauling it through a crowded airport.
And if the airlines continue to raise fees, the shipping companies see a chance for more business in the future.
"We certainly welcome any additional service that may come as a result" of the higher fees, Postal Service spokesman David Lewin said.
Continental, Delta and United announced new rates this week for checking the first and second pieces of luggage on domestic flights.
Continental and Delta both raised fees by $8 for the first bag and $7 for the second suitcase. The increase went into effect for Continental passengers for flights on or after today. For Delta, the new prices took effect for flights after Tuesday.
The increase at both airlines brings the fee to $25 for the first bag and $35 for the second bag if passengers pay at the airport. The airlines offer a discount on the baggage fee if passengers pay online.
United increased the fees by $5 a bag for passengers who bought tickets on or after Thursday for travel on or after Jan. 21. The fees are $25 for the first bag and $35 for the second, with discounts for paying online.
Since the airlines began increasing baggage fees in 2008, the charges have become a big source of revenue.
In the third quarter of 2009, the 10 largest U.S. carriers collected about $740 million in baggage fees, more than double the $350 million in fees they collected in the third quarter of 2008, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
UPS, FedEx and the Postal Service couldn't say how many more people were shipping luggage as a result of the higher airline fees.
But in the last year, UPS has noticed that more customers are shipping oversize packages, such as skis and golf clubs -- the kind of packages that would result in hefty airline baggage fees.
"We know anecdotally that we've seen an increase in business since the late summer of 2008," UPS spokeswoman Susan Rosenberg said.
In most cases, it's still cheaper to transport your luggage via the airlines than to ship it. For example, it would cost about $240 to ship a standard suitcase weighing about 50 pounds for a trip from Pasadena to San Jose by overnight delivery with Luggage Forward. That's for a round trip, with pickup at your house before the trip begins and delivery back home afterward.
To ship the same package overnight via FedEx costs less -- about $210 -- but you may have to ship the package from a FedEx office.
In contrast, Continental, Delta and United will charge you $50 for the first bag on a round trip.
But you can reduce the shipping cost if you send your package several days before your trip and give the shipping company a few extra days to deliver the package after you return. You can also save money by shipping only your clothes and toiletries without a suitcase, thus reducing the weight of the package.
And by shipping your luggage, you also skip the baggage-check lines at the airport. Airline passengers who travel without luggage save an average of two hours a trip compared with passengers who check luggage, Adkins said.
However, he couldn't calculate how much aggravation you save by going through an airport sans baggage.
DOT steps up aid to frustrated fliers
The Department of Transportation has made it clear recently that the federal agency is increasingly allied with frustrated passengers against big airlines.
For example:
* On Friday, the department issued a $30,000 fine against United Airlines for failing to disclose the full price for airfares, as required by department rules. For several days, United failed to include a 7.5% federal excise tax in the advertised price that passengers must pay for airline tickets, according to the agency.
* Earlier in the week, the agency unveiled a website (airconsumer.dot.gov) that makes it easier for passengers to file complaints about airline service and shipping software and keep track of the rates for on-time arrivals and lost baggage.
* Last month, the department announced it would fine airlines that leave passengers stranded on a plane on the tarmac for more than three hours without allowing the passengers to return to the gate. The new restrictions also require the airlines to offer food, water and access to bathrooms within two hours of a delay. Airlines that fail to comply can be fined up to $27,500 per passenger. The new regulations take effect in April.
* In November, the department issued fines totaling $175,000 against Continental, ExpressJet and Mesaba airlines for their involvement in an incident that left 47 passengers stranded in a plane in Rochester, Minn., for nearly six hours.
The new Transportation Department website simplifies information, online forms and links that help passengers file complaints or keep track of the airlines with the worst on-time rates, among other information.
"This makes it more user friendly so people can get to things more quickly," said Bill Mosley, a department spokesman.
The website offers a link to an online complaint form that is routed to the Transportation Department's Aviation Consumer Protection Division, which keeps track of the complaints and compiles a monthly report. The department also reviews the complaints and investigates those that allege violation of aviation safety rules, deceptive advertising or discrimination against passengers based on religion, race or disabilities, Mosley said.
Asked about the new Transportation Department website, David Castelveter, a spokesman for the Air Transport Assn., a trade group that represents the nation's airlines, responded that carriers "constantly strive to better serve their customers and they welcome customer opinions."
The website won praise from the National Business Travel Assn., an organization that represents more than 5,000 corporate and government travel managers.
Said association President Michael W. McCormick: "We are hopeful this new website will help travelers report airline service problems, allowing the Department of Transportation to address and resolve them quickly and effectively."
But the higher fees are good news to Zeke Adkins, co-founder of Luggage Forward, a Boston business that ships luggage door-to-door for travelers who want to avoid the hassles of checking bags at the airport.
"Every time the airlines increase their fees, it translates into increased bookings for us," he said.
He is not alone in seeing the higher airline fees as an opportunity.
United Parcel Service Inc., FedEx Corp. and the U.S. Postal Service have all encouraged airline passengers to ship their luggage instead of hauling it through a crowded airport.
And if the airlines continue to raise fees, the shipping companies see a chance for more business in the future.
"We certainly welcome any additional service that may come as a result" of the higher fees, Postal Service spokesman David Lewin said.
Continental, Delta and United announced new rates this week for checking the first and second pieces of luggage on domestic flights.
Continental and Delta both raised fees by $8 for the first bag and $7 for the second suitcase. The increase went into effect for Continental passengers for flights on or after today. For Delta, the new prices took effect for flights after Tuesday.
The increase at both airlines brings the fee to $25 for the first bag and $35 for the second bag if passengers pay at the airport. The airlines offer a discount on the baggage fee if passengers pay online.
United increased the fees by $5 a bag for passengers who bought tickets on or after Thursday for travel on or after Jan. 21. The fees are $25 for the first bag and $35 for the second, with discounts for paying online.
Since the airlines began increasing baggage fees in 2008, the charges have become a big source of revenue.
In the third quarter of 2009, the 10 largest U.S. carriers collected about $740 million in baggage fees, more than double the $350 million in fees they collected in the third quarter of 2008, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
UPS, FedEx and the Postal Service couldn't say how many more people were shipping luggage as a result of the higher airline fees.
But in the last year, UPS has noticed that more customers are shipping oversize packages, such as skis and golf clubs -- the kind of packages that would result in hefty airline baggage fees.
"We know anecdotally that we've seen an increase in business since the late summer of 2008," UPS spokeswoman Susan Rosenberg said.
In most cases, it's still cheaper to transport your luggage via the airlines than to ship it. For example, it would cost about $240 to ship a standard suitcase weighing about 50 pounds for a trip from Pasadena to San Jose by overnight delivery with Luggage Forward. That's for a round trip, with pickup at your house before the trip begins and delivery back home afterward.
To ship the same package overnight via FedEx costs less -- about $210 -- but you may have to ship the package from a FedEx office.
In contrast, Continental, Delta and United will charge you $50 for the first bag on a round trip.
But you can reduce the shipping cost if you send your package several days before your trip and give the shipping company a few extra days to deliver the package after you return. You can also save money by shipping only your clothes and toiletries without a suitcase, thus reducing the weight of the package.
And by shipping your luggage, you also skip the baggage-check lines at the airport. Airline passengers who travel without luggage save an average of two hours a trip compared with passengers who check luggage, Adkins said.
However, he couldn't calculate how much aggravation you save by going through an airport sans baggage.
DOT steps up aid to frustrated fliers
The Department of Transportation has made it clear recently that the federal agency is increasingly allied with frustrated passengers against big airlines.
For example:
* On Friday, the department issued a $30,000 fine against United Airlines for failing to disclose the full price for airfares, as required by department rules. For several days, United failed to include a 7.5% federal excise tax in the advertised price that passengers must pay for airline tickets, according to the agency.
* Earlier in the week, the agency unveiled a website (airconsumer.dot.gov) that makes it easier for passengers to file complaints about airline service and shipping software and keep track of the rates for on-time arrivals and lost baggage.
* Last month, the department announced it would fine airlines that leave passengers stranded on a plane on the tarmac for more than three hours without allowing the passengers to return to the gate. The new restrictions also require the airlines to offer food, water and access to bathrooms within two hours of a delay. Airlines that fail to comply can be fined up to $27,500 per passenger. The new regulations take effect in April.
* In November, the department issued fines totaling $175,000 against Continental, ExpressJet and Mesaba airlines for their involvement in an incident that left 47 passengers stranded in a plane in Rochester, Minn., for nearly six hours.
The new Transportation Department website simplifies information, online forms and links that help passengers file complaints or keep track of the airlines with the worst on-time rates, among other information.
"This makes it more user friendly so people can get to things more quickly," said Bill Mosley, a department spokesman.
The website offers a link to an online complaint form that is routed to the Transportation Department's Aviation Consumer Protection Division, which keeps track of the complaints and compiles a monthly report. The department also reviews the complaints and investigates those that allege violation of aviation safety rules, deceptive advertising or discrimination against passengers based on religion, race or disabilities, Mosley said.
Asked about the new Transportation Department website, David Castelveter, a spokesman for the Air Transport Assn., a trade group that represents the nation's airlines, responded that carriers "constantly strive to better serve their customers and they welcome customer opinions."
The website won praise from the National Business Travel Assn., an organization that represents more than 5,000 corporate and government travel managers.
Said association President Michael W. McCormick: "We are hopeful this new website will help travelers report airline service problems, allowing the Department of Transportation to address and resolve them quickly and effectively."
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