TSA screening works only 'a little better than chance,' according to GAO

[ElNono]

The Transportation Safety Administration has long relied on singling out airline passengers that agents believe are behaving suspiciously, even as outside groups like the General Accounting Office maintain that these behavioral indicators are unreliable. But today, the GAO has science on their side, with a new report (http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-14-159) giving a comprehensive look at the TSA's the Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques or SPOT program. And the results aren't pretty.

The most damning info comes from a broad analysis of the program in 2011 and 2012, which found wildly different techniques and rates of success. The report also highlights the extensive scientific literature on the human ability to identify deceptive behavior. Summarizing 400 studies over the past 60 years, the report concludes that humans perform only "the same as or slightly better than chance." Given that the TSA has spent almost a billion dollars on the program (http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/13/21428350-gao-1-billion-tsa-behavioral-screening-program-slightly-better-than-chance?lite), that's a pretty poor record. As a result, the GAO is requesting that both Congress and the president withhold funding from the program until the TSA can demonstrate its effectiveness.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/13/5100702/tsa-screening-works-only-a-little-better-than-chance-according-to

[ElNono]

TSA chief assures N.J. lawmaker of steps to prevent repeat of racial profiling

The head of the Transportation Security Administration today assured Congress steps have been taken to prevent the kind of racial profiling that occurred at Newark Liberty International Airport under a controversial TSA behavior detection program.

TSA Administrator John Pistole was appearing before the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation in Washington, which examined the effectiveness of the TSA’s Screening of Passengers by Observation Technique, or SPOT, program.

The hearing followed the release of a Government Accountability Office report this week questioning the effectiveness of the SPOT program, noting that the stress and fatigue of air travel could be mistaken for the nervousness of a terrorist. The GAO is the investigative arm of Congress.

Under questioning by Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-10th Dist.), Pistole assured lawmakers the TSA had emphasized to behavior detection officers, or BDOs, that the purpose of the SPOT program was not to rack up a large number of law enforcement referrals. An internal TSA report from 2010 found that the pursuit of referrals in the belief they would please superiors had led some TSA managers and screeners at Newark Liberty to target Hispanic fliers for document checks in 2008 and 2009.

More: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/11/racial_profiling_tsa_newark_congress.html#incart_m-rpt-1

[boutons_deux]

"TSA has spent almost a billion dollars on the program (http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/13/21428350-gao-1-billion-tsa-behavioral-screening-program-slightly-better-than-chance?lite),"

and it doesn't work? $Bs? why aren't the Repugs issuing subpoenas and demanding that heads roll, it's THEIR monstrous agency (over)built by the "MBA Presidency", right? :lol

healthcare.gov is therefore a bargain, is working better, and will work MUCH better than "chance", for less the $1B :lol

[Winehole23]

The GAO's conclusion from all this is damning. "Ten years after the development of the SPOT program, TSA cannot demonstrate the effectiveness of its behavior detection activities," it wrote. "Until TSA can provide scientifically validated evidence demonstrating that behavioral indicators can be used to identify passengers who may pose threat to aviation security, the agency risks funding activities that have not been determined to be effective." The title of the report sums up the GAO recommendation: "TSA Should Limit Future Funding for Behavior Detection Activities."http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/11/despite-lack-of-science-tsa-spent-millions-on-behavioral-detection-officers/