Can You Take Photos Or Videos At A TSA Checkpoint?

One of the inescapable parts of air travel in the U.S. is going through TSA before getting to your departure gate. We all know there are many rules and guidelines we must follow to ensure our encounter with TSA goes as smoothly as possible. For example, most of us have been through the motions enough to know we can't take a bottle filled with water through a TSA checkpoint and that we have to take off our shoes if going through the standard screening line. However, we may be less than familiar with things like what types of batteries TSA allows in carry-on luggage. Still, we usually figure out all of those details before we even get in the TSA line.

While going through a TSA checkpoint is usually uneventful, sometimes an incident may occur that you want to film, or you may just want to take a selfie while posing in the security line. You may have even mastered all of your Android camera's features, making it especially tempting to snap a selfie or record what's happening around you — but is it legal? Given you're passing through a government checkpoint, you may think twice about whipping out your smartphone to film or take photos. If you ever find yourself in this situation, you can, in most cases, go ahead and capture what's happening around you, even at a TSA security checkpoint.

While the TSA does have rules about flying with an expired ID, it doesn't prohibit travelers from taking photos or recording videos at security checkpoints, but there are some caveats. First, you must take care not to interfere with the security screening process or record sensitive information while doing so. That means you can't put your camera in a TSA officer's face and start recording in a way that obstructs their view or movement. Furthermore, your picture-taking or filming cannot impede the movement of other passengers through the checkpoint. 

When filming at a TSA checkpoint, you must follow the same rules you would if you weren't taking photos or videos, including standing in the required position during screening. And as tempting as it might be, you cannot record or take pictures of any of the equipment monitors that are intentionally kept out of public view. If you follow these rules, you shouldn't run into any problems the next time you want to film or snap a photo at a TSA checkpoint.