TSA Warrantless Searches

If the TSA scanning and pat downs were being done by the airlines, there would be no constitutional concerns about warrantless searches (Fourth Amendment) or invasions of privacy (Ninth Amendment). It would simply be a matter for contract. Private parties may enter into a contract that gives up those rights.

Is it different when government is doing the invasive procedures.

Most constitutional rights can be waived. Usually the waive should be clear and unequivocal, that is, "knowing and voluntary.". Here the argument seems to be that the waiver is implicit in buying the ticket. It seem to me that at the point of purchase there should be express waivers of Fourth Amendment and privacy rights with check boxes or initial entry to confirm that the waiver has been made. Given the common knowledge among travelers that there will be inspections, it is possible that simply buying the ticket and showing up constitutes the "knowing and voluntary" waiver.

I would feel much better about the searches if it were not the government performing them.

Government or not, I don't like the idea of a naked body scan or the x-ray exposure. I do not trust the government to tell me the truth about the level of x-ray exposure. I don't want to volunteer for a pat down.

My solution: I will avoid flying, unless the distance to too great (over a 12 hour drive, up from my previous cut-ff of seven hours). It is that simple.