Travel Surveillance Assemblages

Abstract

Soothing sounds, calming light, appeasing stories about security screeners and X-ray machines that can see the skin under clothing — all of these are implements have slowly come to airports near all of us thanks to a total makeover of airport security measures planned mainly by the Transportation Security Administration. Recently, the TSA’s Checkpoint Evolution project has aimed soothe passengers in the screening line with music designed to calm us down while light panels complement it by emitting agreeable colors. Calmed while stainding in line, passengers can read stories about the security officers, which the TSA hopes will make travelers feel comfortable with their screeners. The ideal is that most of the security implementations we are subjected to as we travel are perceived to be invasive, or control us, but rather to “protect us” from unforeseen catastrophes. This paper looks at how the original insidiousness of surveillance methods is slowly being erased making surveillance acceptable as design parameters are incorporated into all sorts of surveillance technologies in order to make traveling more “comfortable”.