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Welcome to RantCrush Top 5, where we take you through today’s top five controversial stories in the world of law and policy. Who’s ranting and raving right now?

Daily Beast Outs LGBT Athletes In Rio

The Daily Beast is in big, big trouble after one of its reporters used the popular dating app, Grindr, to bait Olympic athletes into interviews. Two problems: The athletes had no clue they were being interviewed, and the reporter, who is straight, later used the interviews to out the athletes as gay.

The bigger ethical issue, though, lies in the fact that in many countries represented at the Olympics, homosexuality is often punishable by death. So Nico Hines, douche bag of the year, is facing major backlash, particularly from Slate, which published a scathing article condemning his actions. The Daily Beast has since taken down the article and released an apology from the Editor-in-Chief.

So…@dailybeast is trash. @NicoHines is trash.
Whomever Hines’ editor is is trash.

Duly noted.

You don’t endanger lives for clicks.

— April (@ReignOfApril) August 11, 2016

It is disappointing that the @thedailybeast published @NicoHines‘ story in the first place. That wasn’t journalism.

— deray mckesson (@deray) August 11, 2016

Rant Crush

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The post RantCrush Top 5: August 12, 2016 appeared first on Law Street.

The evolution of 3D printing promises to be a technological revolution, but it also may lead to some serious security concerns. One big issue is the ability to replicate something seen in a picture on a 3D printer. For example, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials have access to master keys that can unlock any TSA-approved luggage locks–and now because the blueprints were leaked online, those keys can be replicated by someone who has a 3D printer as well.

Estimates believe that more than 300 million locks were compromised by the leak. The locks that are sold as “TSA friendly” often appear in duty-free or other travel shops and labeled as such. They’re popular because they allow fliers to lock their belongings with the peace of mind that the TSA won’t rip their bags trying to get in them.

A picture of the master keys that the TSA officers use was part of a recent Washington Post article that discussed TSA procedures when it comes to luggage. Although the pictures were taken down after the realization that this was a major security breach, the damage was done. After all, researchers have determined that keys can reproduced from a picture taken over 200 feet away.

The pictures were used to derive blueprints that could be used to make 3D printed keys. Those blueprints were leaked by a man based out of France named Stephen K., who posted the files on GitHub, a site that can be used to host and share these kinds of files. He told PCMag:

I made [the keys] for the technical challenge. I released [the] CAD files because I’m a partisan of full disclosure, and also because these kind of government backdoors are totally absurd in 2015.

He also told WIRED:

Honestly I wasn’t expecting this to work, even though I tried to be as accurate as possible from the pictures. I did this for fun and don’t even have a TSA-approved lock to test. But if someone reported it that my 3D models are working, well, that’s cool, and it shows…how a simple picture of a set of keys can compromise a whole system

At least one man, Bernard Bolduc, from Montreal has printed the keys based off of the blueprints and tested them, determining that they do work.

OMG, it’s actually working!!! pic.twitter.com/rotJPJqjTg

— Bernard Bolduc (@bernard) September 9, 2015

This is obviously a concerning discovery that doesn’t just stop with the fact that it might be a little bit easier for thieves to get into our baggage. Protecting blueprints to keys, or like devices, is more important than ever, as the technology to replicate them continues to become fine-tuned. While the TSA hasn’t commented on this breach yet, this news doesn’t look good for the much-beleaguered travel security agency.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post 3D Printed Keys: Could They Be Used to Open Locked Luggage? appeared first on Law Street.

The Transportation Security Administration agents recently failed 67 out of 70 total tests, missing 95 percent of the of mock explosives and weapons that were smuggled into airports by undercover Homeland Security Red Teams, ABC News Reported.

Since the administration’s last review in 2009, the Department of Homeland Security spent $540 million on checked baggage screening and $11 million to train Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents. Despite these expenditures, ABC news notes that the TSA has “failed to make any noticeable improvements in that time.” Professors John Mueller and Mark Stewart further reviewed homeland security expenditures using a cost-benefit analysis. They conclude, based on the costs of security and the financial damages of potential attacks, American spending has not produced the necessary results.

The failed airport security tests come at the worst possible time for the TSA. In the past couple months, we have witnessed multiple breaches in airport security. In April, a teenager snuck into a wheel well on an airplane leaving from the West Coast and flew all the way to Hawaii. In late May, a man was able to bypass airport security at LAX, only to be subdued by a TSA officer with a taser as he reached gate 66.

Last August, a woman was able to board a plane in San Jose without a ticket. The woman made it all the way to her destination before being arrested by police, who later determined that the she suffered from a mental illness.

After news of the recent Red Team tests emerged, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson said,

Changes will be made in response to the identification of the vulnerable aspects by these tests.

According to the ABC News report, one undercover agent was actually stopped after setting off the alarm at the magnetometer, but after a pat down, TSA agents failed to find fake explosives taped to the undercover agent’s back.

The question now becomes, what new security measures will be enacted by the TSA, and will these new measures be any more effective?  The TSA recently started testing electronic devices traveling to and from overseas cities at many U.S. airports with direct international flights. The new rule will require passengers to power on their devices when arriving at security checkpoints for overseas flights. If the device will not power on, it will not be allowed past airport security checkpoints.

Many passengers feel this does not adequately address all the security concerns as it is only being implemented in select airports and does not address the problem of passengers smuggling bombs and weapons on their bodies, which TSA agents failed to detect in the mock testing. In 2014, the TSA  confiscated 2,212 firearms at 24 airports after screening nearly 653 million passengers, a 22 percent increase from 2013 where only 1,813 firearms were confiscated.

With external security threats remaining high according to terrorism experts, it is imperative to keep internal security at its best. Homeland Security has used Red Teams for the last 13 years to detect security flaws; however, the changes never seem to address the problems accurately. NBC News notes that since 2002, TSA agents failed similar Red Team tests on several occasions, indicating that there are many existing security flaws yet to be addressed.

NBC recently learned that 270 TSA security badges went missing at the San Diego International Airport over the last two years. These missing badges would allow non-Homeland Security personnel to gain access to restricted locations within the airport. As of March 2015, the Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta saw more than 1,400 badges go missing over a similar time period.

How are we supposed to trust TSA agents with our lives when they can not be trusted with their own badges? Unless the TSA is able to completely restructure the airport security system, it is unlikely that new changes will make a large enough difference to deal with existing security threats.

Jennie Burger

Jennie Burger is a member of the University of Oklahoma Class of 2016 and a Law Street Media Fellow for the Summer of 2015. Contact Jennie at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Does the TSA Really Keep You Safe? appeared first on Law Street.

Given that they spend a large amount of time checking passengers and throw away a number of passengers’ personal items, should airport transportation security officers have a hard time finding weapons? With an annual budget of $7 million, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officials believe that they set the standard for excellence in transportation security. According to ABC News, after an internal investigation with the Department of Homeland Security red teams, reports have shown otherwise. In fact, the results were so shocking that it led to the resignation of the head of the department.

Red team agents posed as passengers and conducted a series of tests to see just how secure this system really is. TSA agents did not pass 67 out of 70 tests, failing to find several mock weapons and explosives. Homeland Security discovered that the TSA fails to stop fake weapons or explosives from being smuggled through security checkpoints 95 percent of the time at some of our nation’s busiest airports. One red team investigator was stopped after setting off a magnetometer. Shockingly, after a pat-down, TSA agents still failed to find the fake explosive device taped to the investigator’s back. Frustrated by these results Jeh Johnson, the Homeland Security Secretary, set out immediately for a detailed briefing at the TSA Headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. DHS officials stated,

Secretary Johnson immediately directed TSA to implement a series of actions several of which are now in place, to address the issues raised in the report.

Melvin Carraway, the head of the TSA, resigned from his position as the acting administrator upon hearing these reports. He was appointed to this position in January of 2015 and was a veteran of the TSA for 11 years, holding many positions within the organization. Carraway was reassigned to serve in the Office of State and Local Law Enforcement at the Department of Homeland Security headquarters. There doesn’t appear to have been official word from Carraway on why he has resigned yet. Mark Hatfield will be his replacement until a new acting administrator is appointed. In regards to how the TSA will be dealt with moving forward, Johnson stated,

We take these findings very seriously in our continued effort to test, measure and enhance our capabilities and techniques as threats evolve.

Unnamed officials spoken to by ABC News admitted that these results were disappointing. Government officials claim that because red team agents are familiar with TSA procedures these results are not realistic and they are able to get past security in ways that terrorists could not. The TSA requires every passenger to go through various security checks before boarding a plane. Many believe that this process is nothing but an unnecessary and insulting ritual that does not protect anyone’s safety. It seems as if the TSA is more concerned with throwing away harmless personal items than finding weapons that threaten the lives of others.

The @TSA may not be able to find any bombs, but they sure as hell can find my shampoo..

— Larry Kraus (@lsk0334) June 2, 2015

The TSA has been failing to detect mock weapons for years and studies like this spark concerns that airline security is no safer than it was during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. With very few improvements, TSA has to figure out how to change their security procedures and stop these incidents from occurring.

Taelor Bentley

Taelor is a member of the Hampton University Class of 2017 and was a Law Street Media Fellow for the Summer of 2015. Contact Taelor at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Acting Head of the TSA Resigns After Shocking Test Results appeared first on Law Street.

I spent all of last week in Costa Rica, so I had a lot of catching up to do when I returned. And when I went to check my news feed for weird legal stories to write about here, it did not disappoint. A man shot both an armadillo (or an armadilla, as it is pronounced in the South) and his mother-in-law (I feel as if there is a good mother-in-law joke in there somewhere), and a 70-year-old woman was arrested for smuggling cocaine in her girdle – though for me, the real crime there is that someone still wears a girdle in this day and age.

The Shot Heard Round the Yard

The expression kill two birds with one stone recently took on a whole new meaning. A Georgia man was out shooting armadillos with his pistol. It is, apparently, encouraged in his town to shoot armadillos in general, but pistols are not the gun of choice in such a situation. Why? Because if you shoot an armadillo with a pistol, here is what might happen:

• The bullet ricochets off the animal’s sturdy back;
• The bullet then hits a fence;
• The bullet ricochets off the fence;
• The bullet flies through the back door of your mother-in-law’s mobile home;
• The bullet goes through the recliner where your mother-in-law is sitting; and,
• The bullet finally stops … after hitting your mother-in-law in the back.

The lady in question walked away just fine and is not pressing charges; however, I would not recommend any of you mom-in-law haters out there try this at home. It might not work out so well for you.

Granny’s Got a Drug Cartel

It’s not often that we hear of a story where people are trying to find out what’s inside a 70-year-old woman’s underwear, but recently at JFK airport TSA officials did just that. Olive Fowler is not your average little, old lady. Sure, she wears girdles and granny panties just like everyone else, but her Victoria’s Secret is a little darker than most of the others.

Sweet lil’ Olive was spotted at JFK sweating profusely – wait! As anyone of her generation could tell you, women don’t sweat, they glisten – and avoiding the eyes of cops. So she was taken away for additional screening. The TSA officials found more under her girdle than they had bargained for, in the form of $73,000 worth of cocaine. She was taken away by the authorities and will likely face jail time.

The moral of this story is that you should not judge a book by its cover. Even the dusty ones that look old and boring can be a gold mine (which now gives new meaning to the expression digging for gold).

Ashley Shaw

Ashley Shaw is an Alabama native and current New Jersey resident. A graduate of both Kennesaw State University and Thomas Goode Jones School of Law, she spends her free time reading, writing, boxing, horseback riding, playing trivia, flying helicopters, playing sports, and a whole lot else. So maybe she has too much spare time. Contact Ashley at staff@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Granny Arrested For Smuggling Cocaine in Her Girdle at JFK appeared first on Law Street.

The number one post on Law Street last week was written by Alexis Evans, who provided warnings about a secret TSA checklist for spotting terrorists. Check out her article if you want to avoid behaviors that could lead to some extra security scrutiny. The number two post, also written by Alexis Evans, discussed Jay Z’s new company–Tidal. Tidal may revolutionize the music industry, or it may end up pushing users back to pirating music. Finally, the number three post was written by Anneliese Mahoney about the banning of smart watches in college classrooms. Professors are concerned that they would help students cheat, and don’t want to see them brought in on test day. ICYMI, check out this week’s best of the week from Law Street.

#1 TSA Has Secret Checklist to Spot Terrorists. Hint: Don’t Yawn at Security

This checklist is part of a controversial TSA program to identify potential terrorists based on behaviors that “indicate stress or deception.” The program is known as the Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques, or SPOT. SPOT is operated by trained individuals known as ‘Behavior Detection Officers’ who observe and interact with passengers during screenings. Read the full article here.

#2 Tidal: Music Industry Revolution or Expensive Setback?

How would you feel about a music streaming service with CD quality sound, video and editorial content, full offline capabilities, and exclusive tracks from your favorite artists? Sounds amazing, right? But is it worth ditching your free Spotify account for a $20-a-month fee? Rapper and business mogul Jay Z thinks that it is, and has enlisted a crew of Illuminati grade artists to back him. Read the full article here.

#3 Smartwatch Scare: Will Schools Ban Watches to Prevent Cheating?

In a lot of ways it’s easier than ever for students to cheat on exams. Many students now have small handheld devices that we can use to access pretty much the whole of human knowledge–I’m talking about smartphones, of course. Smartphones have been banned from our classrooms, particularly during exam time, since they became popular. But now schools are trying to keep up by banning the latest form of mobile technology: smartwatches. For some schools, the easiest way to do that is to ban watches altogether. Read the full article here.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post ICYMI: Best of the Week appeared first on Law Street.

If you’re like me flying can be kind of scary. Yes, I am well aware of the fact that I am significantly more likely to die in a car accident than in a horrific plane crash. Unfortunately that morbid statistic does nothing to quell my intense phobia of heights combined with a general distaste for spaces that I can’t escape. It makes me nervous, playing with my hands and fidgeting more than unusual. According to The Intercept, I should stop doing all of these things because they are all quirks that TSA agents look for and classify as suspicious behavior via a designated point system detailed in a newly acquired TSA document.

This checklist is part of a controversial TSA program to identify potential terrorists based on behaviors that “indicate stress or deception.” The program is known as the Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques, or SPOT. SPOT is operated by trained individuals known as ‘Behavior Detection Officers’ who observe and interact with passengers during screenings.

Nerves aren’t the only thing that can apparently make someone look suspicious to a TSA behavior agent. In the “Spot Referral Report,” a number of behaviors are divided into two categories: one point for “stress” factors and two points for “fear” factors.

Here are a few signs that TSA thinks might make you a terrorist:

• Exaggerated yawning
• Excessive throat clearing
• Widely open staring eyes
• Wearing improper attire for location
• Gazing down
• Exaggerated or repetitive grooming gestures
• Face pale from recent shaving of beard
• Rubbing or wringing of hands
• Arriving late for a flight
• Bulging adams apple

Now some of the behaviors listed make sense–like bulges under clothes–but others like excessive yawning and arriving late for a flight are hardly out of the ordinary or threatening for that matter. There were also some that are just outright weird, i.e. “bulging adams apples.” Why?

Apparently this document was not classified, but rather closely guarded by the TSA. The Intercept only received a copy after a concerned source questioned the quality of the program.

I can understand why. Behavioral science has been critiqued as not being an actual science, and therefore unreliable. According to the article, the Government Accountability Office found that there was no evidence to support the idea that “behavioral indicators” can be used to determine if someone is a threat to aviation. GAO concluded that:

The human ability to accurately identify deceptive behavior based on behavioral indicators is the same as or slightly better than chance.

According to The Intercept, the ACLU sued TSA last week to obtain records related to its behavior detection programs, alleging that they lead to racial profiling. They could have a point. Using a checklist that makes almost any passenger susceptible to suspicion has the potential to be used as a catchall to interrogate or search any individual who is supposedly threatening. When racial stereotypes begin to come into play it is only a recipe for disaster. While airport security is a serious concern for Americans, programs like SPOT that depend solely on contrived behavioral factors is hardly reliable. In the mean time I’ll be mindful to keep my nerves to a minimum while going through airport security.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post TSA Has Secret Checklist to Spot Terrorists. Hint: Don’t Yawn at Security appeared first on Law Street.

Airline security is a huge pain for most of us. From having to walk shoe-less across the airport floor, to anxiously checking whether or not that small lotion bottle is under three ounces, it’s an annoying but understandable reality of a post-9/11 world. But for Roger Vanderklok, an architect and runner, it turned into more than just an annoying step to get from point A to point B. He was arrested and detained for 20 hours in the Philadelphia International Airport in 2013 and is now suing the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), as well as the Philadelphia Police Department, and Department of Homeland Security, alleging that his civil liberties were violated.

Vanderklok, a Philadelphia resident, was attempting to fly to Miami to participate in a half marathon on January 26, 2013. In his luggage he had a watch and energy bars, and they were in a PVC pipe to make sure they were protected during his travel. Technically, electronics, organic materials, and a PVC pipe could be used to make a pipe bomb, but not necessarily watches or PowerBars.

After the PVC pipe and its contents showed up on the bag scanners, his bag was searched and he was questioned about the contents. According to his suit, he was asked if his bag contained any organic matter. Given that PowerBars aren’t organic matter in the traditional sense, like fruit or vegetables, he said no. The agents however thought he was lying, because they defined organic matter as any kind of food.

What exactly happened next is unclear. Vanderklok claims that he was arrested after he questioned what was happening to him, and asked to file some sort of complaint. He was then taken to a cell where he wasn’t given the opportunity to call anyone or be questioned. He was then released after being charged with “threatening the placement of a bomb” and making “terrorist threats.” His wife, who understandably panicked and called 911 after not hearing from him, had to bail him out. Those charges were later dismissed by a judge after hearing more information.

The TSA supervisor in question, Charles Kieser, disagrees with Vanderklok’s story. He testified at the hearing that Vanderklok threatened him. According to WPXI News:

Kieser testified an agitated Vanderklok raised his hands and repeatedly pointed a finger at his face.

‘The passenger made a bomb threat to me,’ Kieser testified, according to a transcript. “‘He said) I’ll bring a bomb through here any day that I want … and you’ll never find it.’

However, the video surveillance from the scene seems to contradict Kieser’s story, if only because Vanderklok’s body movements never show him raising his hands or pointing a finger.

Based on the way he was treated, and the fact that he believes Kieser lied, Vanderklok filed the lawsuit.

There have been plenty of stories of TSA taking really strange actions in recent years. In 2009, college student Nicholas George was detained, also in the Philly airport, after it was discovered he was carrying Arabic flashcards. They contained words like “terrorist” and “bomb” on them, but George explained he was studying Middle Eastern studies at Pomona College in California. He was detained for five hours.

On a less serious and more commonplace note, I’ve seen many silly stories about babies being put on no-fly lists, or people with licenses from Washington, D.C. being turned away from their flights because D.C. isn’t technically a state. The agents involved are, at face value, following policies. But the ways in which the polices are being enacted transcend common sense.

The dissemination of those policies at the ground level sometimes leads to noticeable problems. If Vanderklok is truthful about what happened to him, the actions taken by those particular agents were unacceptable. The policies that are supposed to guarantee our freedom shouldn’t have to infringe on said freedom to do so.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Philly Man Sues TSA After Being Detained for 20 Hours appeared first on Law Street.