Recent scanner shifts & issues are getting some Congressional attention ... Aviation News Today: Transportation Security Subcommittee Examines Scanner Issues' The House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation Security Thursday held another in a long series of hearings this year focusing on perceived shortcomings with TSA operations, procurement and technology deployment. Subcommittee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) at Thursday's hearing questioned witnesses on TSA's decision to replace backscatter Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) machines, worth $14 million, in large airports with millimeter wave AIT machines, sending the backscatter machines to a storage facility in Texas because they did not have automated target recognition (ATR) capability. Rogers additionally questioned witnesses on the timeline for implementing ATR software on backscatter machines and the agency's plan for its remaining 155 backscatter machines currently deployed in the field.
The good news is that OSI's stock has tanked 30% since ScannerScam broke; the bad news is that analysts are forecasting a 29% gain for OSI. In otherwords, business as usual. Street Insider: OSI Systems (OSIS) Hit as Legitimacy of Rapiscan Data Called into Question OSI Systems (Nasdaq: OSIS) is getting hit Thursday amid reports of foul play while conducting its scanner tests. Reports today have U.S. Rep Mike Rogers sending a letter to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) head John Pistole, stating that OSI's body scanning machines might actually be recording graphic images of travelers, compared with prior data that those images were blocked.
Reuters via CNBC: OSI Systems gets show-cause letter from federal agency OSI Systems Inc <OSIS.O> said it received a show-cause letter from the federal agency for transportation security related to a privacy system of passenger scanning machines it was developing for the agency. The company said the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) alleged that the unit, Rapiscan, did not disclose issues related to the privacy system in a timely or complete manner ... The unit received the show-cause letter on November 9, OSI said.
Not sure I would place that order just yet. http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/2012/11/15/tsa-bodyscanners/1706811/
Wait for the double bump that indicates the correction likely taken place. Last OSI chart I saw was still on the downward side of first bump.
Tech Dirt: Naked Scanner Maker Accused Of Manipulating Tests To Make Scans Look Less Invasive OSI, of course, is denying it, but this is the same company that also apparently ran into problems last year when maintenance reports suggested radiation levels 10 times as high as promised. The other bit of news? The TSA has admitted that it has simply put a bunch of these machines in storage -- 91 machines, worth $14 million -- because of related privacy concerns. While it's a good thing that privacy violating machines aren't being used, it raises serious questions about why they were purchased and put into use in the first place -- and done so without ever taking comment from the public, as is required under law. Perhaps if they had actually done that, they would have avoided wasting so much taxpayer money on machines that violate everyone's privacy.
Will TSA now try wiggling out of having a Comment Period as required by the Administrative Procedures Act and ordered by a court?
