Supposedly secure ePassports easily cloned

Cynics, who may say that "chipped" passports are more about control than security, may point to articles like this one to support their position:

‘Fakeproof’ e-passport is cloned in minutes - Times Online

New microchipped passports designed to be foolproof against identity theft can be cloned and manipulated in minutes and accepted as genuine by the computer software recommended for use at international airports.

Tests for The Times exposed security flaws in the microchips introduced to protect against terrorism and organised crime. The flaws also undermine claims that 3,000 blank passports stolen last week were worthless because they could not be forged.

In the tests, a computer researcher cloned the chips on two British passports and implanted digital images of Osama bin Laden and a suicide bomber. The altered chips were then passed as genuine by passport reader software used by the UN agency that sets standards for e-passports.

The Home Office has always argued that faked chips would be spotted at border checkpoints because they would not match key codes when checked against an international data-base. But only ten of the forty-five countries with e-passports have signed up to the Public Key Directory (PKD) code system, and only five are using it. Britain is a member but will not use the directory before next year. Even then, the system will be fully secure only if every e-passport country has joined....

Airport kiosks suspected in fraud probe

This morning's Globe & Mail ran a story about an apparent connection between a rash of credit card fraud and the check-in kiosks at Toronto's Pearson International Airport. The Airport Authority has said they've checked them out and think all is well:

WestJet suspends credit-card kiosk check-ins amid fraud probe

...Earlier Wednesday, a spokesman for the Greater Toronto Airport Authority said a recent audit demonstrated the kiosks, used to check in and pick up boarding passes, were safe and secure.

"We checked our systems and everything checks out, so we're happy with that," said Scott Armstrong.

Meanwhile, airlines have disabled the ability to use a credit card to check in.

From today's Globe:

globeandmail.com: Credit-card fraud probe targets Pearson's self-service kiosks

An investigation of suspected credit-card fraud at Toronto's Pearson airport is now concentrating on the security of its 150 self-service check-in kiosks.

In recent months, financial institutions that issue credit cards spotted isolated fraud patterns that appeared to stem from use of the cards in conjunction with getting boarding passes at the Pearson kiosks, according to sources.

While the investigation is in the early stages, it is currently focused on the kiosks, where passengers use passports, frequent-flier cards, reservation numbers, names, and/or credit card data to identify themselves for flights on any one of 13 airlines. It is not known whether any information has actually been stolen or otherwise gone astray.

Some members of the financial industry are very concerned because Pearson is Canada's busiest airport, with 31.5 million passengers travelling through it last year.

One person familiar with the investigation said the fact that personal data at airports might not be secure “should send shudders through every airport traveller.” ...

Keep your friends close, but your laptop closer ... Especially in airports

According to a recent study conducted by the Ponemon Institute, 10,000 laptops are lost/stolen each week in US airports. While the commentary on this study talks about confidential business information, I am confident that the majoriy of these laptops also contain personal information. See: PC World - Business Center: Laptops Lost Like Hot Cakes at US Airports.

"Clear" may put customer information up for sale

Clear, the for profit company that did pre-screening of travelers so they could breeze through security, recently went out of business. Now there's a suggestion that the personal information they've compiled may be put up for sale. According to the release (below), it would be to a company that would provide a similar business and would be approved by the Transportation Security Administration.

Out of business, Clear may sell customer data ITworld

by Robert McMillan

June 26, 2009, 08:18 AM — IDG News Service — Three days after ceasing operations, owners of the Clear airport security screening service acknowledged that their database of sensitive customer information may end up in someone else's hands, but only if it goes to a similar provider, authorized by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration.

Until this week, the Clear service had given customers a way to skip long security lines in certain airports. For a $199 annual fee, air travelers could be pre-screened for flight and then use Clear's security checkpoints instead of the TSA's. Clear was run by New York's Verified Identity Pass, which also shut down on Monday.

Customers had to provide personal information, including credit card numbers, fingerprints and iris scans in order to participate in the program. After Clear abruptly shut its doors -- it has not yet declared bankruptcy -- some worried that this data could fall into the wrong hands.

"They had your social security information, credit information, where you lived, employment history, fingerprint information," said Clear customer David Maynor, who is chief technical officer with Errata Security in Atlanta. "They should be the only ones who have access to that information."

Maynor wants Clear to delete his information, but that isn't happening, the company said in a note posted to its Web site Thursday.

Clear's IT partner, Lockheed Martin, is working with the company "to ensure an orderly shutdown as the program closes," Clear said. But in a section of the note entitled, "Will personally identifiable information be sold?" Clear acknowledged that it could be used by someone else, presumably if Clear's assets were sold. "If the information is not used for a Registered Traveler program, it will be deleted," Clear said.

Boasting more than 260,000 customers, Clear was the largest private company authorized to provide airport security services, under a TSA program called Registered Traveler. Other providers, who may now be interested in purchasing Clear's assets, include Flo and Preferred Traveler.

Until Clear's demise, Registered Traveler companies operated in about 20 airports nationwide. Once a traveller has registered with any one of these companies, he is given a travel card that can be used for security screening by any company in the Registered Traveler program.

Last year the TSA temporarily yanked Clear's Registered Traveler status after the company lost an unencrypted laptop containing data on 33,000 customers at San Francisco International Airport. A few days later, Clear was allowed back into the program after the laptop mysteriously reappeared and the TSA determined that Clear was properly encrypting data.

Although it appears to be retaining information on its central databases, Clear said it has erased PC hard drives at its airport screening kiosks, and it is wiping employee computers as well, using what it calls a "triple wipe process." This technique, used by the U.S. Department of Defense, is considered to be a reliable way of erasing data.

"Clear is communicating with TSA, airport and airline sponsors, and subcontractors, to ensure that the security of the information and systems is maintained throughout the closure process," the company said.

Customers will be notified via e-mail when their information is deleted.

That wasn't good enough for Maynor. "How about the opposite? Where if they sell my information, they send me an e-mail," he said.

Passengers virtually stripped naked by 3-D airport scanner being tested in Canada

We've seen this coming up through development, but the electronic virtual stripping machine is finally making its way to an airport in Canada, though just for a pilot project. The scanner was unveiled on Thursday. It uses "millimetre waves" to create a detailed 3-D image of the subject's body and any contraband they may have under their clothes. Interestingly, the operator -- who is right by the scanner -- sees a fuzzy image but another officer in a "private room" gets a much more detailed peep at the person's body. See: Passengers virtually stripped naked by 3-D airport scanner.

TSA announces new ID policy

According to the website of the Transportation Security Administration, the policy on flying without ID has been changed. If you refuse to provide ID, citing your constitutional rights, you'll be denied boarding. But if you tell them you would show them ID if you could, they'll let you fly.

In short, you can fly without ID. But only if you tell them it's because you've lost your ID. If you tell them that you aren't showing ID because you don't have to show ID, that's a security risk of a different variety.

See: TSA: TSA Announces Enhancements to Airport ID Requirements to Increase Safety.

TSA employee arrested for assault after being teased about what body scanner revealed

With all the fuss over full body scanners in airports, I did not expect this.



According to The Smoking Gun, an airport security officer has been arrested after assaulting a co-worker. The spat arose because the accused was imaged in the scanner during a training exercise, exposing all his bits and pieces to his colleagues. As a result, the accused was allegedly teased mercilessly about what the image revealed.



Pretty grim.



See a summary and a copy of the arrest report here: For Airport Security, Size Matters - May 6, 2010.

The importance of audits

Bruce Schenier has a great piece on his blog, which previously appeared in the Wall Street Journal, on the importance of audits. It's a must-read:

Schneier on Security: Audit

... When we think about security, we commonly think about preventive measures: locks to keep burglars out of our homes, bank safes to keep thieves from our money, and airport screeners to keep guns and bombs off airplanes. We might also think of detection and response measures: alarms that go off when burglars pick our locks or dynamite open bank safes, sky marshals on airplanes who respond when a hijacker manages to sneak a gun through airport security. But audit, figuring out who did what after the fact, is often far more important than any of those other three.

Most security against crime comes from audit. Of course we use locks and alarms, but we don't wear bulletproof vests. The police provide for our safety by investigating crimes after the fact and prosecuting the guilty: that's audit....

If you want to fly, show us your body or we'll feel you up

An interesting review of the increasing intrusiveness of airport security: The expanding invasion of the naked body scanners. - By William Saletan - Slate Magazine.

Privacy right extends to drugs in luggage

A Judge of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland has made an interesting evidentiary ruling when considering the constitutionality of a search that resulted in finding drugs and cash in the luggage of an airline passenger.

Acting on a tip, a sniffer dog alerted police, the bag was searched and the accused was arrested. He has argued that he had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his luggage and wanted the evidence excluded. The prosecutors argued that you have no expectation of privacy when traveling because luggage is routinely screened.

The Judge had this to say, according to the National Post:

"Obviously, searching or screening the accused's bags for the presence of drugs does not fit into the category of purposes for which screening was authorized," wrote Mr. Hall.

"I conclude that Brian Crisby had a reasonable expectation of privacy with respect to the contents of his luggage, save and except for searches by [airport] personnel for items that could be used to jeopardize the security of an aerodrome or aircraft. The drugs and money found in his baggage, which are the subject of this proceeding, are not such items and thus Brian Crisby had a reasonable expectation of privacy."

Mr. Rogers described the win as clearing the first hurdle toward having the charges dropped.

Interesting.

See: Privacy right extends to drugs in luggage: judge.

Heathrow worker given police warning for body scanning co-worker

The Guardian is reporting about an incident that seems at odds with the official pronouncements that body scanners at airports protect privacy:

Airport worker given police warning for 'misusing' body scanner UK news guardian.co.uk

... A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Police received an allegation regarding an incident that happened at Heathrow Terminal 5 on March 10. A first-instance harassment warning has been issued to a 25-year-old male."

The BAA employee took a photo of his co-worker, Jo Margetson, when she inadvertently went through a scanner.

"I can't bear to think about the body scanner thing," she told the Sun. "I'm totally traumatised. I've spoken to the police about it. I'm in too much of a state to go to work."...

Commissioner tables annual Privacy Act Report for 2008-2009

The Privacy Commissioner of Canada has tabled her annual report on the public sector privacy law, the Privacy Act: Annual Report to Parliament 2008-2009 - Report on the Privacy Act.

At the same time, she has also tabled additional privacy audits, related to FINTRAC and the Canadian no-fly list:

• Audit of the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada
• Audit of the Passenger Protect Program of Transport Canada

Here's the media release that accompanied the tabling of the reports:

Audits of major national security programs raise concerns for privacy
Excessive reporting of personal information to FINTRAC and potential information technology risks with Canada’s “no-fly list” are among concerns identified in audits highlighted in the Privacy Commissioner’s annual report on public sector issues.

OTTAWA, November 17, 2009 — The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) has more personal information in its database than it needs, uses or has the legislative authority to receive.

This was one of the key findings of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s in-depth audit of the independent agency mandated to analyze financial transactions and identify suspected money laundering and terrorist financing in Canada.

A separate audit, also published today, examined the Passenger Protect Program – better-known to Canadians as the no-fly list. It identified several concerns, such as the fact that the Deputy Minister ultimately in charge of who is on the list was not provided with complete information to allow for informed decision-making.

“Since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, we’ve seen a proliferation of new national security programs. We fully appreciate the underlying aim of many security programs – protecting Canadians. However, it is critical – a point reinforced by our new audits – for government officials to integrate privacy protections into all of these programs at the outset,” says Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart.

The findings of the two audits are highlighted in the Commissioner’s 2008-2009 report to Parliament on Canada’s federal public-sector privacy legislation, the Privacy Act.

FINTRAC Audit

Legislative changes passed in 2006 expanded the types of transactions that must be reported to FINTRAC, as well as the number of professionals and organizations that are required to collect information about clients and to report it to FINTRAC. Examples of entities required to report to FINTRAC include financial institutions, life insurance companies, accountants and casinos.

The audit found that FINTRAC needs to do more to ensure that the amount of personal information it acquires is kept to an absolute minimum. A random sample of files examined in the audit turned up several reports that did not clearly demonstrate reasonable grounds to suspect money laundering or terrorist financing. For example:

A reporting entity filed several reports stating it was “taking a conservative approach in reporting this … because there are no grounds for suspecting that this transaction is related to the commission of a money laundering offence, but there is a lack of evidence to prove that the transaction is legitimate.”

An individual deposited a government cheque for an amount less than $300 and then withdrew the entire amount. The financial institution filed a suspicious-transaction report, but did not indicate why the transaction was deemed suspicious.

A financial institution filed a report about an individual who had deposited a cheque from a law firm. The institution was satisfied that the individual had provided legitimate reasons for the source of funds, but decided to notify FINTRAC anyway because of the individual’s ethnic origin and the fact that this person had visited a particular country.

“It is clear that such reports, containing not a shred of evidence of money laundering and terrorist financing, should not be making their way into the FINTRAC database,” says Commissioner Stoddart.

“It is a bedrock privacy principle that you collect only the personal information you need for a specific purpose,” she says. “The federal government needs to have a justifiable need to collect someone’s personal information. Clearly, FINTRAC needs to do more work with organizations to ensure it does not acquire personal information that it has no legislative authority to receive – and that it does not need or use.”

The audit recommended enhanced front-end screening of reports; stronger ongoing monitoring and review to ensure that information holdings are relevant and not excessive, and the permanent deletion of information that FINTRAC did not have the statutory authority to receive.

Under amendments passed in 2006, the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act requires the Privacy Commissioner to review FINTRAC every two years and report the results to Parliament.

Passenger Protect Program Audit

The “no-fly list” is a passenger screening tool introduced in 2007 to prevent people named on a “specified persons list” from boarding domestic and international flights from or to Canadian airports.

The program has sparked privacy concerns, in part because it is secretive in that it uses personal information without the knowledge of the individuals concerned. Moreover, the repercussions for a person named on the list being denied boarding on an aircraft can be profound in terms of privacy and other human rights, such as freedom of association and expression and the right to mobility.

The focus of the audit, however, was to determine whether the program has adequate controls and safeguards in place to protect personal information.

“We were concerned to learn that officials did not always provide the Deputy Minister – who is ultimately responsible for adding to or removing people’s names from the ‘specified persons’ list – all the information needed to make these sorts of decisions,” says Assistant Privacy Commissioner Chantal Bernier.

Other concerns identified during the audit included:

Transport Canada has not verified that airlines are complying with federal regulations related to the handling and safeguarding of the “specified persons list.” The risk of this information being inappropriately disclosed is particularly high for the small number of air carriers that rely on paper copies of the list.

There were no requirements that air carriers report to Transport Canada security breaches involving personal information related to the no-fly list.

Transport Canada did not demonstrate that the application used to transmit information to air carriers met government security standards.

The Passenger Protect Program and the FINTRAC audits, as well as the latest Privacy Act annual report, are available at http://www.priv.gc.ca/.

The annual report also includes details of privacy-related complaints against federal departments and agencies investigated during the 2008-2009 fiscal year. The Office received 748 formal complaints in 2008-2009, down slightly from the previous year. The most common complaints related to access to personal information and to the length of time government departments and agencies were taking to respond to access requests.

The Privacy Commissioner of Canada is mandated by Parliament to act as an ombudsman, advocate and guardian of privacy and the protection of personal information rights of Canadians.

To view the reports:

• Annual Report to Parliament 2008-2009 – Report on the Privacy Act
  
• Audit of the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada
  
• Audit of the Passenger Protect Program of Transport Canada
  
• Audit of Federal Annual Privacy Reports

Opt out, while you still can: Airport security reaches new levels of absurdity

"Ask the Pilot", over at Salon.com, has a great/sad illustration of the absurdity of idiotic policies and slavish adherence to these policies at airport screening: Airport security reaches new levels of absurdity - Ask the Pilot - Salon.com.

Over the past year, I've been "randomly" selected for the virtual stip-search about a half dozen times. Each time, I've opted out and have gone for the pat-down. I don't really have a problem with modesty and would probably streak through the terminal for a reasonable fee, but I do so just to make a point. The machines are pointless security theatre.

On my last trip to Ottawa, the CATSA screener guy directed me to the naked machine after I went through the metal detector. He didn't tell me it was optional. I said "I decline." And he was visibly surprised. When I opted out, he tried to sell me on the benefits of going into naked machine: "It only takes two seconds."

"No thanks. I opt out."

He was also the guy who got to give me the rub-down, and I'm sure I got extra-special treatment because I defied him.

A few weeks before, when I opted out to a woman CATSA person, she said I'd have to wait for a male guy. I said I didn't care if it was her, but I still had to wait. But she had to hold onto my boarding pass to make sure I didn't make a break for it (though I'd been through the metal detector). A few minutes passed and there was no male CATSA guy available. Obviously upset she was having to loiter with me, she quickly ran the explosive decting swab on my hands, gave me the all-clear and sent me on my way.

Does this make you any safer?

Body scanning, which started as random, is becoming de rigeur in the United States and I will not be surprised to see it make a similar change in Canada. It's the classic bait and switch: don't worry ... it's optional and we randomly choose people for secondary screening through the scanner. Now that we have them installed in all the airports, it's the scanner or the glove. Then it'll be the scanner or the train.

Recently, an American blogger wrote about his surreal experience in trying to opt-out at San Diego airport and it has garnered over 4000 comments so far.

Not surprisingly, this has led to a backlash. A number of groups in the US are calling for national opt-out day in airports on the busiest travel day of the year. I expect that it will have an impact on Thanksgiving travelers and will get some notice.

Ontario commissioner calls for "privacy filters" on whole-body scanners

The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario is calling for implementing privacy filters to mitigate part of the damage to privacy caused by whole body scanners that are appearing soon in an airport near you.

IPC - Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner/Ontario Whats New Summary

Whole Body Imaging (WBI) technologies – which have been described in the media as “naked scanners” – raise significant privacy concerns that must to be addressed, says Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner, Dr. Ann Cavoukian. “These technologies, which are being deployed as a voluntary passenger-scanning security measure in a growing number of airports around the world, pose a serious threat to privacy since they produce high-quality images of an essentially naked body beneath a passenger’s clothes.” But the risk to privacy can easily be mitigated through the use of a strong “privacy filter.”

The Commissioner released a white paper entitled, Whole Body Imaging in Airport Scanners: Activate Privacy Filters to Achieve Security and Privacy, which outlines how the activation of privacy (or modesty) filters can reduce the amount of unnecessary personal details captured by WBI technologies.

• Executive Summary: Increase airport security without compromising privacy: Commissioner Cavoukian makes the case for the use of “Privacy Filters”
  
• Paper: Whole Body Imaging in Airport Scanners: Activate Privacy Filters to Achieve Security and Privacy

DHS reportedly seeking covert naked scanners

Computerworld is reporting that the Electronic Privacy Information Center has obtained documents under the Freedom of Information Act that suggest the Department of Homeland Security is on the hunt for portable body scanners. This is not surprising, but what is most chilling is the suggestion that they're seeking devices that can be deployed to covertly see through clothing of unsuspecting people.

See:

DHS seeks systems for covert body scans, documents show - Computerworld

Computerworld - Documents obtained Tuesday by the Electronic Privacy Information Center suggest that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has signed contracts for the development of mobile and static systems that can be used scan pedestrians and people at rail and bus stations and special event venues -- apparently at times without their knowledge.

The documents indicate that DHS moved to develop the technology as part of an effort to bolster the ability of law enforcement personnel to quickly detect concealed bombs and other explosives on individuals.

EPIC obtained the documents from the DHS under a Freedom of Information Act request for data on mobile and static scanning systems it filed last year....

Privacy Commissioner OKs airport body scanners

Apparently the Privacy Commissioner has given the thumbs up body scanners for aviations security:

The Canadian Press: Privacy watchdog OKs see-through scanners

Privacy watchdog OKs see-through scanners

By Jim Bronskill (CP) – 46 minutes ago

OTTAWA — Airport scanners that see through the clothes of travellers have received the blessing of Canada's privacy czar.

Chantal Bernier, the assistant federal privacy commissioner, said Friday the national air security agency has successfully answered her office's questions about the project. The system, tested in British Columbia at the Kelowna airport, allows a screening officer to see whether someone is carrying plastic explosives or other dangerous items.

The proposal has stirred controversy because the scanner produces a three-dimensional outline of a person's naked body.

"It is a very touchy issue, and we have addressed it with exactly that level of care," Bernier told a gathering of security officials and academics.

Under the plan approved by the privacy chief, the officer would view the image in a separate room and never see the actual traveller.

Only people singled out for extra screening would be scanned, and they would have the option of getting a physical pat-down instead.

Bernier said the holographic image generated by the scanner makes it difficult to identify the traveller's face.

"You would not know who it is, even if you knew the person was in line," she said at the annual meeting of the Canadian Association for Security and Intelligence Studies. "We've actually tested it.

"In addition, the image would be deleted the moment the person leaves the screening portal.

"In our view, these privacy safeguards meet the test for the proper reconciliation of public safety and privacy," Bernier said.

The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority has done thorough threat assessments that reveal a need to search passengers for weapons that might elude a conventional metal detector, she said.

Giving a traveller who undergoes secondary screening the choice of either a full-body scan or a pat-down reduces the "sense of invasion" posed by the new tool, Bernier added.

In a preliminary assessment early last year, the air-security authority said the scanner project amounted to a "low privacy risk" due to the built-in safeguards.

The scanners are already in use at airports in cities including Amsterdam, Moscow and Phoenix. They are also found in the high-security "green zone" of Baghdad and at some U.S. courthouses and prisons.

The air-security authority says the low-level radio frequency wave emitted by the body scanner meets Canadian health-and-safety standards.

Data from the Kelowna pilot project will help the security authority determine which Canadian airports would most benefit from scanners.

Transport Canada would then decide whether to approve use of the devices across the country.

Laptop searches at airports infrequent, DHS privacy report says

Computerworld is reporting on the first report of the Department of Homeland Security Privacy Office since the changeover to the Obama administration. The report itself is interesting, but perhaps most interesting are the statistics related to the number of searches of laptops at border crossings. This has been a controversial practice since reports on it came to light some time ago. I was surprised to read that fewer than two thousand took place in the year under review, in light of the millions of people (and laptops) that have crossed the border during that time.

Here's Computerworld's coverage: Laptop searches at airports infrequent, DHS privacy report says.

Senators introduce bill to curb border crossing laptop searches

Two senators have introduced a bill to curb controversial laptop searches and seizures, limiting them to when there is a reasonable suspicion of illegal activity:

Techworld - Privacy groups praise bill curbing warrantless laptop searches

Feingold's bill spells out standards for search and seizures of electronic equipment belonging to US travelers at airports and other borders. The biggest condition is that such searches may be initiated only if the customs agent has "reasonable suspicion" that the traveler is carrying contraband or items otherwise prohibited in the country, or because the traveler is prohibited from entering the US. The equipment may be seized only if the DHS secretary, or a relevant federal or state law enforcement agency, obtains a probable-cause warrant on the belief that the equipment contains information that either violates a law, provides evidence of illegal activity or is foreign intelligence material.

Canada may introduce "naked naked" machines for airport security

Yesterday was the Canadian Bar Association's first full-day continuing education event in Ottawa. The first panel of the morning was particularly interesting, composed of the information and privacy commissioners from British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Quebec and the two federal offices. Each commissioner was asked what keeps them up at night and Jennifer Stoddart foreshadowed the possible introduction of "naked naked" machines in Canadian airports. Sarah Schmidt from CanWest was in the audience and reported on it:

'Naked' screening may land at Canadian airports, says privacy czar

OTTAWA — Canada's privacy watchdog has warned that even more intrusive "naked" screening machines at airports could be in the works with the federal government's emphasis on national security.

Speaking to members of the Canadian Bar Association, Jennifer Stoddart on Monday highlighted national security as one of the pressing issues that keeps her "up at night" and mused openly about second generation full-body scanners coming to Canada in the future, calling them "naked, naked" scanners.

"National security pressures — they're real, they're constant," Stoddart, Canada's privacy commissioner since 2003, told participants of the special symposium about privacy in the age of technology.

"Are we going to get naked, naked machines? Apparently, not for the moment." ...

EPIC reports that body scanners can store, send images

According to documents obtained by EPIC and made available to CNN, body scanners procured by the TSA are designed to be able to record and transmit images, whcih appears to contradict assurances given by the agency:

Body scanners can store, send images, group says - CNN.com

Washington (CNN) -- A privacy group says the Transportation Security Administration is misleading the public with claims that full-body scanners at airports cannot store or send their graphic images.

The TSA specified in 2008 documents that the machines must have image storage and sending abilities, the Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) said.

In the documents, obtained by the privacy group and provided to CNN, the TSA specifies that the body scanners it purchases must have the ability to store and send images when in "test mode."

That requirement leaves open the possibility the machines -- which can see beneath people's clothing -- can be abused by TSA insiders and hacked by outsiders, said EPIC Executive Director Marc Rotenberg.

EPIC, a public-interest group focused on privacy and civil rights, obtained the technical specifications and vendor contracts through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.

The written requirements also appear to contradict numerous assurances the TSA has given the public about the machines' privacy protections....

I wasn't able to find the documents themselves on the EPIC website.