Hwang 1 Victoria Hwang Professor Maki English 122 7 March 2022 What Are the Main Issues that Come with Using Full-Body Scanners at Airports? Christina Cauterucci, author of the article, “What Do You Do When You have TSA Precheck and Your Partner Doesn’t? - Couples Speak Out” discusses different perspectives couples have on Precheck and the effects it has on their relationships. Precheck allows travelers to not have to go through full body scanners, but instead, walk through metal detectors. Cauterucci receives different opinions from many different couples on how having Precheck makes their lives easier and gives them more leeway when it comes to getting to their gate on time to how having their fingerprints on hand is an invasion of privacy. She states, “They said the Precheck partner feels slowed down at the airport, or the non-Precheck partner feels abandoned at security for the sake of trivial convenience... while the other stubbornly insists that the fingerprinting is an invasion of privacy or not worth the hassle” (par 10). The author is interviewing people who hold Precheck status versus people who do not, which is a relevant group to study. There could be bias in the author’s opinions since she, herself, has Precheck status, but she is reporting on other traveler's opinions rather than her own. She interviewed many couples to receive their opinions on Precheck and how it affects them and their relationships. Anna Ma, in her article, “TSA Agents Say They’re Not Discriminating Against Black Woman, But Their Body Scanners Might Be” talks about how passengers experiences with the full body scanner, specifically in terms of getting an extra screening because of their hair, and Hwang 2 how it leads to some passengers feeling discriminated against. Ma states, “But it turns out there’s an issue beyond the screeners: the machines themselves. The futuristic full-body scanners that have become standard at airports across the United States are prone to false alarms for hairstyles popular among women of color” (par 6). Ma uses pathos to inspire an emotional response to this issue. She provides examples and situations where people of color felt discriminated against to show firsthand how these machines are affecting travelers and possible social issues that the TSA could face. These experiences are showcased so they can invoke an emotional response from readers to get them to feel for these passengers. In the survey that ProPublica conducted on travelers’ experiences on hair pat downs, “313 identified as white only, 311 as black only and 96 as other ethnicities” (par 23). Ma also offers logos, in this case numerical data from a study, to back up or refute her claims. In Mark G. Stewart and John Mueller’s article, “Cost-Benefit Analysis of Advanced Imaging Technology Fully Body Scanners for Airline Passenger Security Screening” they discuss the cost of implementing full body scanners in all airports versus the value of the benefits that they would bring on. They stated, “The cost of this technology will reach $1.2 billion per year by 2014... three alternate probability (uncertainty) models were used...Economic losses were assumed to vary from $2-$50 billion, and risk reduction from 5-10 percent” (par 1). Stewart and Mueller are strictly using logos in their article to showcase the facts and numerical figures that come with finding the cost-benefit of having these full body scanners. They mention actual numbers and statistics they found and calculated to help support their analysis. It also shows that they conducted multiple studies and models in order to get their data which yielded their results. In order for the full body scanners to be cost effective, the probability that there would be an Hwang 3 attack has to be more than 160% and up to 300%. With such high losses per year and not much of a large margin of risk reduction, the cost analysis of the scanners is debatable. In Courtney Taylor’s article, “Touched By an Agent: Why the United States Should Look to the Rest of the World for a New Airport Security Scheme and Stop Using Full-Body Scanners” she discusses the rights that a citizen holds in the United States in terms of searches and a comparison of how different countries’ airport security looks compared to the United States. Taylor states, “The Fourth Amendment...In terms of the right to privacy, many argue that the use of full-body scanners in airports, which are considered legal, violates the right to privacy” (par 13). The author brings in text, logos, from the Constitution and other constitutional laws to back up her claims about privacy and to provide knowledge and background about privacy when it comes to full body scanners and how they could possibly be violating it. She also mentions, “While security in some Australian airports may closely mirror the tactics that the United States is using in its airports, this is not always in other countries. Many airports, like Nigeria, have lax standards for airport security” (par 29). The author provides multiple subjects, Australia and Nigeria, to showcase the different airline security methods and to compare their effectiveness compared to America’s. In Bello-Salau, Salami, and Hussaini’s report Hwang 4 Works Cited Cauterucci, Christina. “What Do You Do When You Have TSA Precheck and Your Partner Doesn't? - Couples Speak out.” Slate (USA), 2020. Access World News, https://0-infowebnewsbank-com.library.brookdalecc.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=AWNB&docref =news/17846795D6560098. Accessed 28 Feb. 2022. Ma, Annie. “TSA Agents Say They're Not Discriminating Against Black Women, But Their Body Scanners Might Be.” Mother Jones, 2019. Access World News, https://0-infowebnewsbank-com.library.brookdalecc.edu/apps/news/document-view?p=AWNB&docref =news/172E6D93F3A67D08. Accessed 28 Feb. 2022. Stewart, Mark G., and John Mueller. “Cost-Benefit Analysis of Advanced Imaging Technology Full Body Scanners for Airline Passenger Security Screening.” Journal of Homeland Security & Emergency Management, vol. 8, no. 1, Jan. 2011, pp. 1–18. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.2202/1547-7355.1837. Accessed 28 Feb. 2022. Taylor, Courteney L. “Touched by an Agent: Why the United States Should Look to the Rest of the World for a New Airport Security Scheme and Stop Using Full-Body Scanners.” Houston Journal of International Law, vol. 35, no. 2, 2013, pp. 503–536. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost, http://0- Hwang 5 search.ebscohost.com.library.brookdalecc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=8946 4932&site=ehost-live&scope=site. Accessed 28 Feb. 2022.
