Background Checks May Ease TSA Pat-downs

Americans clearly are upset with the Transportation Security Administration’s new methods for screening air travelers – body scanners and pat-downs. Many experts favor background checks instead, and that may be what’s coming, Politico reports.

Such a move would mean thorough questioning of travelers at airports, government examination of passengers’ airline information, and perhaps even creation of a standardized national ID card.

“The question is which kind of privacy do you want to have?” Stewart Baker, a top Homeland Security official during the Bush administration, tells Politico. “This has been a pretty searing experience for DHS. Obviously, we’re not going to do more in this area [of physical checks,] and it would be welcome if we could do less….The alternative is to look for terrorists in advance.”