A lot of people are upset about the TSA scanners, and I’m with them. It’s ridiculous how burdensome flying is becoming for no appreciable safety increase. The most dangerous part of flying is driving to the airport. We surely aren’t spending $8b to make that safer.

Unfortunately, a big part of the rallying cry is around “be afraid of the x-rays”. I was surprised how many of my tech friends got wrapped up in this one, even though the available data suggests otherwise. The FDA has a pretty thorough write up about the process and testing for the scanners. I do get that people, in general, aren’t interested in facts, but I was hoping that in a more educated and technical audience that wouldn’t be as true. Running around saying “be afraid of x-rays” is the same kind of scare mongering as the TSA is using to put all these ridiculous enhanced security measures in place.

Fighting fear with fear just generate hysteria and stampedes, and drowns out all the rational conversation, the one that shows just how ineffective and invasive these scanners are.