

Sex, Lies, and the TSA  - wyclif
http://andybrett.com/tsa

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jdp23
Great example of how the TSA's attempts at spin on their blog are alienating
people. They keep quoting the CBS poll that found that 80% of the people are
in favor of scanners (if you don't tell them about the naked photos or
radiation risk or lack of effectiveness), and ignoring the CBS poll from the
next day that came to the opposite conclusion -- that 80% opposes the scanners
once they know the fact.

obviously both are unscientific internet polls but repeatedly citing the one
and not the other is just so transparent ...

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tptacek
The poll the TSA is citing isn't an Internet poll. It counts more than the
other poll you're citing to oppose it.

[http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/11/15/politics/main70579...](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/11/15/politics/main7057902.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody)

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tomjen3
Who says that?

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tptacek
Who says what? CBS says the TSA's favorite poll was a real poll. The commenter
says both are Internet polls, and is wrong.

Or do you mean, "who says Internet polls aren't real polls?" Answer: in
addition to "everybody", also "common sense", since Internet polls are self-
selected.

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tptacek
Weak. TSA isn't citing a poll about it's pat-down searches, which is what
caused the recent uproar. The CBS poll has an overwhelming majority of
respondents --- 83% of Republicans, 81% of Dems --- in favor of using +full
body+ [em. orig.] digital x-ray machines.

(They'd have gotten I think a lower rate if they had worded it more
aggressively --- "Some airports are now using imaging machines that allow TSA
agents to electronically see through clothing" or the like.)

The problem we have is not that the TSA is lying; it's that people aren't
well-educated about what these machines are actually doing. It's
counterproductive to whine about numbers that the TSA is right to be citing;
all you'd be doing is further obscuring the real issue.

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andrewpbrett
I would argue that the recent uproar is over both the pat downs and the
scanners.

The fact that the poll, as you point out, 1) only mentions the scanners and
not the alternative and 2) doesn't fully indicate what's really happening
should be further reason to call them out for citing it.

