Alaska state lawmaker targets TSA in new PSA

In a new public service announcement, astate lawmaker in Alaska is warning his constituents about the Transportation Security Administration's controversial body scanners.

In the ad, Alaska state Rep. Chris Tuck (D) warns viewers that the TSA has installed body scanners in airports across the state, which he said are machines that "allow TSA screeners to see through their clothes."

Tuck tells his constituents that they do not have to go through the scanners.

"Air travel safety is appreciated, but no one should be humiliated or degraded," he said. "If you don't want inappropriate pictures of you or children to be taken and stored, or if you're concerned with the possible health effects, all you have to do is say, 'I opt out.'

"Instead, they will pat you down, and if they touch you inappropriately, call they airport police," he continued. "This is still a free country. Safe travels this holiday season."

Critics have said the TSA's X-ray machines are an invasion of privacy, and some have suggested the radiation they emit could cause cancer. TSA has defended the machines as being safe, and the agency recently announced that its newest machines would use generic outlines of human bodies to identify potential threats, instead of specific images of passengers being screened.

The agency has also touted a move toward a "risk-based" security system, pointing to measures like its Pre-Check known traveler program, where passengers submit background information about themselves in exchange for the possibility of expedited screening. 

---