Bdeir, Ayah. “<random> Search.” Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2006. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/36152.

Abstract

In the past three decades, especially in the aftermath of September 11th, significant effort has been focused on developing technologies for aviation security. Security inspectors have considerable latitude to wave passengers into additional screening, and pat-downs are extensive and thorough. Immigrants, individuals from minority groups, and persons from specific ethnicities are targeted more, and accuse authorities of racial profiling and discrimination in both the "random" selection and the actual pat-down procedure, but are often reluctant to resist or file official complaints. Expensive, intrusive technologies at security officials' disposal reinforce an inherent power imbalance between authorities and passengers, and set the space for abuse of power.

To date, the only tool at a target's disposal is a verbal or written account of their experience that may or may not be taken seriously. Moreover, existing airport security legislation is flawed and open to interpretation, and official standards used to define a breach are absent or lax. search is an an instrument, a neutral, quantifiable witness to the screening process. Undetectable, wearable pressure sensors, implemented with Quantum Tunneling Composites (QTC), are distributed across the undergarment in order to monitor and record inappropriate or unjustified searches. By allowing the traveler to log and share the experience s/he is going through, the "smart' body suit attempts to quantify the search using a common platform and standardized measurements. The digital record is repeatable and legible enough to be used as evidence to hold security officials accountable for their actions. search is a personal, voluntary technology that does not impose a course of action on the wearer, but rather offers him/her a record to analyze, incriminate, share, perform, or simply keep.