$500,000 Prize for Faster Airport Security Checks 517
coondoggie writes "A security company is willing to fork over $500,000 in prize money to the person or company that comes up with an innovative
technology to speed airport security lines. The company making the offer, Clear, says the winning technology must meet a number of criteria including TSA approval and it must reduce inconvenience by, for example, allowing for no divesting of shoes or outer garments."
UK security sucks as much if not more than the US (Score:4, Interesting)
No, you are incorrect... (Score:4, Interesting)
Like most government million-dollar prizes (such as for the next-generation of battery technology), the prize is a bonus. The government, or in this case the security company, also agrees to purchase X units at whatever it costs you to build (including start-up costs, and usually a profit margin of 6-10%). So, if you have a good idea, and invest your time in making it work, the company will end up giving you millions, but you know that $500,000 will be upfront as an interim reward.
People are still removing shoes? (Score:3, Interesting)
Are people in other regions of the US seeing this recent development? For what it's worth, I was traveling with United.
Re:Easy. (Score:2, Interesting)
Hmm, too bad.. (Score:4, Interesting)
Because changing the laws or TSA guidelines to drop these required checks would probably be the best way - or at least the way that makes the most sense. The checks at airports don't provide much real security - mostly, they are there to provide a (false) sense of security. According to several [schneier.com] reports [schneier.com], the checks don't actually catch most real threats at all (and even very low-tech threats like knives slip through a lot of the time), and are just costing everyone involved a lot of time/money. Also see snake oil security [schneier.com].
Not that the EU is much better in this regard btw - the ridiculous bans on liquids on planes are still in place, even though the European Parliament wants to lift those (at some point).
this will work, but won't be cheap (Score:4, Interesting)
1. Walk through detector for both metal/explosives. Appendages like those found on drive through car washes "lick" the shoes.
2. Carry on scanned same way, with automated "tongues" sampling the residue on the bags.
3. KEY: Everyone, and I mean everyone, on board gets their own Taser. Its clipped into the seat in front of you, right next to the phone! Locked of course until released by the captain (or head flight attendant (the one with the dirty knees?? (had too))). These would be the newly developed "Taser in a shotgun shell" where the entire electronics package is delivered to the target, rather than the wires running from the gun to the target.
4. Profit!!!!
So you breeze through the detectors, which should catch 99% of the nasties coming through, and for the 1% they miss, you've got enough non-deadly force, non-going through the skin of the airplane causing explosive decompression, armed passengers to quell any threat.
Worst case scenario would be a Taser battle in coach!
I guess this is more of "an innovative use of existing technology" rather than "an innovative technology" other than the new "Taser in a shotgun shell", but it meets the criteria.
Where's my half mil?
Airline responsibility + free market (Score:4, Interesting)
Let the airlines make whatever policies they wish, implement them as they wish. Anything from 'Come on aboard, no questions asked!' to strip searching and anal cavity inspections. The customers will reward the airline whose policy makes the most sense with lots of money.
The other side of the coin is that the airlines' insurers would work to make sure that the policies were effective. If your plane gets hijack, and flown into a building, your premiums go WAY up.
Re:End the Security Theater? (Score:3, Interesting)
Instead, we get retards that say "oh, okay, take a look, I have nothing to hide". Likewise when they ask you if you have anything harmful, even if you don't, thats asking you to give up your 5th amendment rights. Want to know why lawyers get through lines faster? It's because they ask the people who ask them a question this: "are you asking me to give up my right to the 5th amendment by answering your question" to which they have to answer no. Or, the security people know not to even bother asking (which is more common).
Welcome to logic, and where it is missing.
Re:UK security sucks as much if not more than the (Score:3, Interesting)
The whole thing is a farce- I know (hypothetically of course) of many cases when the scanners haven't spotted knives, lights, liquids, even bullets. Maybe they only spot those sorts of things with the "Evil bit" set??
A simple way to speed up the security queues is by giving more space for taking off coats/shoes/whatever and putting it back on again on the other side.
Then by abolishing the daft rule of "if a man is being searched, then no other men are allowed to go through the scanner" (Same for women). Why on earth not? If the next man "beeps" the scanner, then they can wait to be searched. Not difficult.
Re:End the Security Theater? (Score:1, Interesting)
To be fair, the hijackings that started all the crazy security nonsense were committed with box cutters. 50 people can take down 6 people with knives, for sure, but nobody wants to be the first one to get stabbed.
Re:Move to another country (Score:5, Interesting)
Mod up a fleet of Roombas (Score:2, Interesting)
Load those Roombas with floor wax and you have the cleanest, safest airport in the county.
You may donate my winnings to the NASA program dedicated to robotic missions on Mars.
Lock the cabin door (Score:4, Interesting)
Assuming this is true (or so nearly true that a little R&D could make it true very soon), the best solution would be to strongly lock the pilot's cabin prior to boarding. Then, if a hijacker tried to take over the plane, the pilot could just press a "We've been hijacked" button and the plane would 1) send out an automated signal informing control towers of this fact, 2) divert course for the nearest airport, and 3) land the plane with no further assistance from the pilot.
This way, even if the hijackers managed to force their way into the cabin, they would be powerless to disable the "We've been hijacked" controls and the plane would land anyway.
This doesn't take into account a plane bomber, but it eliminates the possibility of another 9-11.
Re:Move to another country (Score:3, Interesting)
You joke, but my parents know someone who heads a polka band (no jokes please), who, when he goes to Europe, takes nothing with him but the clothes on his back and his ticket. He buys everything he needs in Europe and leaves it all behind when he comes back.
In Israel ... (Score:2, Interesting)
And at the Ben Gurion, in Israel, I went from being in line at the ticket counter to at the gate in under thirty minutes. This included one hand-search of my bags (only more intrusive than in the US because I had to stand there while they went through it, as opposed to here where we get a flyer put in our suitcases and some extra TSA tape on our opened-and-poorly-repacked boxes). Every item. Including SCUBA gear. And a security checkpoint after the check-in. They managed to be faster and more efficient and more thorough than they are here in the US.
It isn't the lack of technology that is making it hard on us (hand searches and little chemical swipes to check for explosive residue were Israel's low-tech and fast solution), but the clunky process and arbitrary regulations.
Private Companies (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Here's my suggestion (Score:3, Interesting)
Only takes one.
I'll take those odds. If over 90% of the terrorists attempting to attack the US are of Middle Eastern descent, but only 1% of the travelers are, then that means they're far, far overrepresented in the dirtbag category. You don't have to be a statistician to figure out that 75 year old American women deserve less attention than 25 year old men from Saudi Arabia.
Olive complexion? Beard? Going to hassle anyone who isn't blonde-haired and blue-eyed and might be stressed about flying?
Olive complexion? No. Middle East passport? Yes. Stressed about flying? No. If his stress level increases dramatically when I ask him questions about what's in his baggage? Yes.
Boarding takes longer than security (Score:3, Interesting)
I think the $500,000 should go to someone who speeds up the amount of time it takes to get on and off a plane. That's where the most time is wasted.
Re:Easy.... (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:ROFL (Score:1, Interesting)
Better solution than firearms on jetliners... (Score:1, Interesting)
Instead, I think the airlines should issue a good old fashioned American-made baseball bat to each passenger as they board the plane, and if anyone starts any crap during the flight, the rest of the passengers would be considered legally immune from prosecution for whatever they might do to remedy the situation. Keep a good supply of paper towels and disinfectant spray cleaner on board so that the passengers can wipe the stains off the bats before turning them back in at the end of the flight.