The Transportation Security Administration still has hundreds of pages of rules it has yet to announce and put into practice. Among them: “No exceptions.”
Why? Because this means that, for one thing, airports will still have to install their own security checkpoints to keep all the passengers moving through the security checkpoints faster.
For another, in a move often dubbed nanny state by the libertarian right, the TSA is now looking at passengers who go online and even accept rides from drivers. The agency is reportedly looking into the idea of creating an automated system to see whether passengers are actually safe in the hands of strangers. The agency has declined to comment on the matter, but at least one skeptical group thinks it’s a way to rob people of their civil liberties.
The difference between “illegal” and “unreasonable”: Which side of the ProPublica/WNET debate you fall on will help you decide whether to go around with your UGG boots in hand and a search warrant to spare your feelings.
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This article was first published by The Washington Post.