Comments on: Oops! Unredacted TSA manual released; “full review” underway by agency

By: TSA, DFW Airport and photography inside the terminal - FlyerTalk Forums

TSA, DFW Airport and photography inside the terminal - FlyerTalk Forums — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 17:03:58 +0000

[...] this? You can point to Section 2.7 of the TSA Screening Management SOP that can be opened from here. I have the unredacted version on my computer, but you shouldn't need that for the purposes of [...]

By: A glimpse into the workings of the TSA (not a glimpse they meant for you to have, but very interesting) « Skooba Blog

Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:24:29 +0000

[...] Apparently this particular manual is outdated and has been redone several times since this version, but those who travel frequently may still find some of it interesting and informative. Much of it is boring administrative stuff, but there are a few tidbits in there. For example, apparently it is not against the rules for passengers to take pictures or video in the security area. Yet I have seen many instances where someone was doing just that and was quickly told by a TSA officer to stop. Anyway, I thought the story was interesting… if you’re curious, you can read the whole thing here. [...]

By: LeeAnne

LeeAnne — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:37:28 +0000

As a technical writer, and someone who has developed many cross-functional SOPs, I can confirm both points made by your “person who is familiar with redaction boo-boos.” Specifically – that Microsoft Word can be a real pain (and if they recently upgraded to Vista, it’s a nightmare – unlearn everything you learned and start over!). AND, many SOPs are not so much documentation of actual processes or procedures, as they are exercises in getting down on paper the personal agendas and pet issues of competing stakeholders in whatever process is being documented. I can’t tell you the number of SOPs that I have written that are unfollowable in practice.

This does not necessarily reflect on the ability of the organization to proficiently perform its core function. All it means is that 1) some technical writer or doc person doesn’t know how to use Word, and 2) TSA is like any other organization in terms of its internal political struggles with process documentation.

I’m NOT suggesting TSA actually does what it’s supposed to do well. In fact, I personally think they are completely incompetent! I’m just pointing out that the fact that this *thing* happened with this wrong version of an SOP says nothing whatsoever about their competency at TSA’ing.

By: Wandering Aramean

Wandering Aramean — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:34:35 +0000

Thanks for the link-back and for reading it after I mentioned it during the WaPo chat this afternoon.

A few interesting things about this. Yes, it was quite certainly a human error that the redaction didn’t work correctly. But that’s not an excuse. Whether juicy or not it is clear that the content “blacked out” was not supposed to be shared with the public. And now the TSA expects us to trust them in cleaning up the mess.

Second, the version of the TSA response I got was that this version was “outdated” rather than never implemented. Moreover, even if this explicit version was not implemented it is almost certain that pieces of it were. Most likely huge chunks of it.

And then there are the “juicy” bits. Want to know what the x-ray machines resolution is in terms of noticing wires in a carry-on bag? That information is in the document. So are the details on where the folks testing the magnetometers conceal their “gun” as they verify functionality. Interested in bypassing the selectee screening process? Probably not so relevant any more, but the information is in the document. Oh, and the list of twelve countries from which every single citizen is deemed a risk to American air safety is laughable were it not so sad.

Perhaps the greatest irony, however, is just how ridiculous some of the redacted content is. Why is it important that the public not know that the TSOs are to change their gloves if the ETD machine reports a positive result? The fact that the TSA continues to hide behind the SSI designation whenever they are pressed for answers by the general public is a farce, especially when taken in the light of just how ridiculous some of the things designated as SSI are.