USA Today reported last week that the Transportation Security Administration is
now rolling out an additional screening measure, a "chat down" , where selected passengers will be asked pointed questions about their travel plans.
The TSA apparently believes that this is an improvement. "It means moving further away from what may have seemed like a one-size-fits-all approach to security," says TSA Administrator John Pistole.
But given how
inept the TSA is at selecting passengers for screening , it's difficult to see how this can possibly achieve anything aside from
making a trip to the airport even more invasive .
"They're asking questions that people have a right not to answer," says Mike German, senior policy counsel at the ACLU. "It's nobody's business — and certainly not the government's business — where you're traveling and why."