Originally Posted by
Globaliser
Um, yes, this is the whole point of a rule that ensures that only one bag per person goes through the machine. That's the only point at which the restriction matters and the only point at which it's applied.
How many bags per person do you think the security screeners should have to look at?
What is the purpose of putting something through a machine? To detect dangerous objects which should not fly.
These rules make no sense. They are creating delays and angering the people who are
paying for the service. More to the point, this particular "security" measure
reduces actual security.
Putting one bag in another bag will make it that much harder for the underpaid and overworked screening staff to make out dangerous objects. These folks rely on the machine highlighting suspicious objects, and the more objects in a bag, the worse it gets. The XRay screening devices look for molecular weights and particular object edges. When they find them, they are highlighted in different colors. The screeners mostly look for the colors - this is why people seem to occasionally get through with dangerous objects.
Airport security should be safe, efficient and effective, and able to cope with known and previously unknown threats. This measure is none of these. Worse, it costs money, staff, and time for all concerned to implement a useless control, when that money, staff and time could be used for real security.
Real security professionals HATE the term "security" being applied to the theatre at airports:
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archive...rity_ro_1.html
This, and many other measures implemented is NOT about security, it's about being seen to be doing something, no matter how ineffectual it actually is. It's a waste of
our time and money. It's no wonder many folks now get the train or the bus rather than spend HOURS at an airport.
The physical security folks who dream up these ridiculous controls must bring their skills up to date. A decent threat model with defense in depth would screen passengers properly once, and not require secondary re-screening at gates, re-screening previously screened pax from connecting flights, and would have coped with the threat posed by the UK would be alleged bombers with no changes. Yet, we are continuously re-screened (badly) for no purpose and the changes made post the UK arrests make absolutely no sense to explosive experts and chemists alike.
Security theatre, pah!
Andrew (who is a security professional by day and too frequent pax)