My "encounter" (non-event) with Airport security
Little story of my encounter with Airport security/surveillance which left me a bit peeved and concerned by their processes. I was off on a stag do before Christmas to Budapest and I've never had any issues flying before. Those who know me will vouch that I'm as clean as they come. All of the guys had gone through security except my friend's brother who I waited for as he has dyspraxia and isn't very fast in those situations. Whilst I was waiting with all of my cleared baggage and person, a lady asked me to come to one side while they randomly swabbed my hand luggage.
I obliged and at first found it funny that I would be selected, but understood I was just standing around at the time. To my surprise, the swab test came back positive for "substances of an explosive nature" she explained. Suddenly it dawned on me that in her confusion about what happens next in the procedure, that I could be here a while..
The manager is brought down from somewhere to take it to the next step, which is taking all of my documents (passports, flight tickets etc) and asking me questions about my job (office!) while they swab the bag again. He doesn't explain what the form is, what it is for and what they are recording, but I know it's all my personal information. He remains quiet and holds his tongue when I politely inquire to what he is doing with the information and what happens to me next.
The bag swab comes back negative and after listening to my concerns, the lady is now on my side hinting at me to raise my concerns with the manager. I stated that there is a flaw with the system, that my bag was visibly covered in dust from the security trays and that if that tray was touched by a substance and then my bag or anyone's bag goes in there, surely each bag that touches the tray will swab positive.
I was sent on my way, so even if it did swab positive I was still heading for the flight. What concerns me is that I am 100% innocent and now I'm probably elevated on surveillance somewhere on a list of people where they track everything I type (hello if you read this), my phones, who I know, where I travel etc. All of this due to a flaw in the process and poor processes.
I just wanted to share this and get your thoughts! I didn't hear anything after this, they probably watched a rather destroyed human being return from Budapest on the Sunday and knew I wasn't too much trouble outside of a bar!
Little story of my encounter with Airport security/surveillance which left me a bit peeved and concerned by their processes. I was off on a stag do before Christmas to Budapest and I've never had any issues flying before. Those who know me will vouch that I'm as clean as they come. All of the guys had gone through security except my friend's brother who I waited for as he has dyspraxia and isn't very fast in those situations. Whilst I was waiting with all of my cleared baggage and person, a lady asked me to come to one side while they randomly swabbed my hand luggage.
I obliged and at first found it funny that I would be selected, but understood I was just standing around at the time. To my surprise, the swab test came back positive for "substances of an explosive nature" she explained. Suddenly it dawned on me that in her confusion about what happens next in the procedure, that I could be here a while..
The manager is brought down from somewhere to take it to the next step, which is taking all of my documents (passports, flight tickets etc) and asking me questions about my job (office!) while they swab the bag again. He doesn't explain what the form is, what it is for and what they are recording, but I know it's all my personal information. He remains quiet and holds his tongue when I politely inquire to what he is doing with the information and what happens to me next.
The bag swab comes back negative and after listening to my concerns, the lady is now on my side hinting at me to raise my concerns with the manager. I stated that there is a flaw with the system, that my bag was visibly covered in dust from the security trays and that if that tray was touched by a substance and then my bag or anyone's bag goes in there, surely each bag that touches the tray will swab positive.
I was sent on my way, so even if it did swab positive I was still heading for the flight. What concerns me is that I am 100% innocent and now I'm probably elevated on surveillance somewhere on a list of people where they track everything I type (hello if you read this), my phones, who I know, where I travel etc. All of this due to a flaw in the process and poor processes.
I just wanted to share this and get your thoughts! I didn't hear anything after this, they probably watched a rather destroyed human being return from Budapest on the Sunday and knew I wasn't too much trouble outside of a bar!
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