New Device Would Utilize Travelers Smartphones

Today’s smartphones and PDAs could have a new use in the nation’s airports helping passengers avoid long lines at security checkpoints.

The Transportation Security Administration is looking at installing devices in airports that home in and detect personal electronic equipment. The aim is to track how long people are stuck in security lines.

Information about wait times could then be posted on websites and in airports across the country.

“This technology will produce valuable data that can be used in a variety of ways,” TSA spokeswoman Lauren Gaches said, noting it could help prevent checkpoint snarls.

But civil-liberties experts worry that such a system enables the government to track people’s whereabouts. “It’s serious business when the government begins to get near people’s personal-communication devices,” said American Civil Liberties Union privacy expert Jay Stanley.

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