Is the TSA checking domestic airline passengers for warrants?
"Travel is not an inherently suspicious activity. It’s the exercise of a Constitutional and human right, and cannot in itself be the basis for warrant checks." Continue reading →
That Other Threat: Electronics Thefts From Checked Luggage
"In 2014, the Transportation Safety Administration said more than 500 baggage screeners had been fired since it was established in 2001, according to the Wall Street Journal. A CNN analysis found more than 30,000 property loss claims were filed by passengers with the TSA between 2010–14, most claiming valuables were taken from checked baggage. Under an international treaty known as the Montreal Convention (to which the US is a signatory), an airline’s liability for loss or damage to a passenger’s luggage is limited to the equivalent of about $1,360." Continue reading →
New Bill Would Outlaw Warrantless Border Phone Searches Of U.S. Citizens
"Four privacy-minded lawmakers have introduced legislation requiring law enforcement officials to obtain a warrant before searching phones belonging to US citizens, and prohibiting them from barring entry to Americans who decline to share their passwords at the border. 'Americans’ Constitutional rights shouldn’t disappear at the border,' Senator Ron Wyden said in statement to BuzzFeed News." Continue reading →
American Citizens: U.S. Border Agents Can Search Your Cellphone
"Data provided by the Department of Homeland Security shows that searches of cellphones by border agents has exploded, growing fivefold in just one year, from fewer than 5,000 in 2015 to nearly 25,000 in 2016. According to DHS officials, 2017 will be a blockbuster year. Five-thousand devices were searched in February alone, more than in all of 2015. 'That's shocking,' said Mary Ellen Callahan, former chief privacy officer at the Department of Homeland Security. She wrote the rules and restrictions on how CBP should conduct electronic searches back in 2009. 'That [increase] was clearly a conscious strategy, that's not happenstance.'" Continue reading →
The Trump Laptop Ban and What It Means for Air Travel
"Middle East airports and passengers are grappling with new U.S. and British rules barring laptops and other electronic gadgets in carry-on luggage. Both governments prohibited large electronic devices in the cabins of flights headed to their countries. In announcing the rules, officials cited security reasons but didn’t supply many specifics." Continue reading →
Libyan-American Rapper Khaled M Removed From Plane, Detained
"Rapper Khaled Ahmed has drawn attention to airport security and detention practices after he tweeted about his experience of being removed from a connecting flight by unidentified security officials on Monday. Khaled says he was detained, questioned, and had his belongings confiscated without explanation. Khaled is a Libyan-American hip-hop artist who performs under the moniker 'Khaled M.' He first rose to prominence in the hip-hop community with his songs about the Arab spring and events in his ancestral homeland of Libya. After the incident, Khaled M described the experience and expressed his frustration with his repeated run-ins with flight security." Continue reading →
Woman sues US Airways for losing her husband’s ashes after TSA mishap
"Initially, Mrs O'Grady planned to take the urn on board with her, but was stopped by TSA agents who told her she wasn't allowed to bring the cardboard box containing his urn through security because 'it's contents were not a solid substance'. So she went back to the airline's front desk and put the box in her checked luggage. Because of that delay she nearly missed her flight as well. By the time she got to the gate, she was too late and the airline had already given up her seat. Mrs O'Grady had to buy a $500 first-class ticket just to stay on the same flight. But the real shocker happened after she arrived at her sister-in-law's house in Hull. She opened the bag and the box of ashes was gone." Continue reading →
Dozens Of TSA Employees Fired, Suspended For Illegal Gambling Ring
"Dozens of local Transportation Security Administration workers have been fired or suspended after they were caught in an illegal gambling ring at Pittsburgh International Airport. Sources confirm TSA employees on the job set up an office betting pool of sorts, employees betting year-round on all of the big sporting events, the Super Bowl, NCAA Final Four, the World Series, the Stanley Cup and more. Sources confirm the employees recommended for termination did 'make a little money off of the top.' TSA sources confirm none of the betting affected any of the security at the airport." Continue reading →
Gunman dead after killing 4 at heavily secured Washington Naval Yard
"A heavily armed gunman opened fire at the Navy Yard in southeast Washington, D.C., Monday morning killing four people and shooting as many as 12, a senior Naval official told NBC News. Washington police swat teams cornered at least one of the shooters, who they said was carrying an AR-15, double barrel shotgun, and a handgun in the Naval Sea Systems Command Headquarters building. At least one officer had been shot in both legs at the Naval Sea Systems Command Headquarters, NBC News reported. The building has heavy security and requires a government I.D. to enter." Continue reading →
Ex-TSA screener threatens LAX on eve of 9/11 anniversary
"Early this morning, members of a federal task force arrested Alpha Onuoha, a screener with the Transportation Security Administration who quit his position. According to Federal Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Laura Einmiller, Onuoha had been suspended recently, but suddenly resigned his position Tuesday afternoon and allegedly left a 'suspicious package' for another screener at TSA’s LAX Headquarters. The package is believed to have contained an eight-page letter in which Onuoha allegedly discusses the incident that led to his suspension, as well as his general feelings of disdain for the United States." Continue reading →