TSA releases screening manual with unredacted redactions

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Rich Kulawiec <rsk () gsp org>
Date: December 7, 2009 7:00:22 AM EST
To: Paul Ferguson <fergdawgster () gmail com>, Richard Forno <rforno () infowarrior org>, Dave Farber <dave () farber 
net>
Subject: TSA releases screening manual with unredacted redactions

(via BoingBoing)

        The TSA makes another stupid move
        http://www.wanderingaramean.com/2009/12/tsa-makes-another-stupid-move.html

Excerpt:

        So the decision to publish it on the Internet is probably a
        questionable one. On top of that, however, is where the real
        idiocy shines. They chose to publish a redacted version of
        the document, hiding all the super-important stuff from the
        public. But they apparently don't understand how redaction works
        in the electronic document world. See, rather than actually
        removing the offending text from the document they just drew
        a black box on top of it.  Turns out that PDF documents don't
        really care about the black box like that and the actual content
        of the document is still in the file.

        Yup, their crack legal staff managed to screw this one up pretty
        badly.  Want to know which twelve passports will instantly get
        you shunted over for secondary screening, simply by showing them
        to the ID-checking agent? Check out Section 2A-2 (C) (1) (b)
        (iv).  Want to know the procedure for CIA-escorted passengers
        to be processed through the checkpoint? That's in the document,
        too;  Details on the calibration process of the metal detectors is
        in there. So is the procedure for screening foreign dignitaries.


Document mirror:

        http://cryptome.org/tsa-screening.zip

---Rsk




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