In a broadened effort to gauge what color the National Threat Advisory should be, the Transportation Safety Administration is installing body scanners at a few airports. The scanners use millimeter waves to view passengers in full glory. The agency has done little to inform passengers about the machines or the process.

“If you don’t ask questions, they don’t tell you anything,” Scott said. When he asked a screener technical questions about the scanner, “he could not answer,” Scott said.

TSA spokeswoman Sterling Payne said the agency is studying passenger reaction and could “get more creative” about informing passengers. “If passengers have questions,” she said, “they need to ask the questions.” [USA Today]

The TSA could “get more creative” about informing passengers. More implies a baseline upon which something can be added, and it doesn’t appear that the TSA has a baseline with which to work.

At any rate, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to expect government agents to fully inform people (citizens or not) of a procedure they must go through, including rights, responsibilities, and the process itself. Hope they’re more forthcoming when it comes to cavity searches.