New Body Scans at Airport Security See Through Clothes
Posted On Monday, April 21, 2008 at at 4/21/2008 08:00:00 AM by nullWhich would you prefer at the airport security check: a pat down or a "whole body imaging scan" that provides a highly detailed image of all your, um, curves (but does have your face blurred to protect your identity)?
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has been testing out these devices, called millimeter wave machines, at Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport and this week is adding the machines to Los Angeles International Airport and New York City's John F. Kennedy International.
The TSA says that during the test in Phoenix, 90 percent of travelers preferred the scan to having a full body pat down. The TSA agent viewing the image from one of the devices will be in a separate booth and will not be able to see the traveler's face in order to maintain privacy. After the image has been checked it won't be stored, according to the TSA.
Even so, are these images invasive? What about privacy concerns?According to the TSA blog, "These images are friendly enough to post in a preschool. Heck, it could even make the cover of Reader's Digest and not offend anybody."
The TSA also claims the machine emits 10,000 times less energy than a cell phone transmission.
You can see how the body image is captured in a video here and also watch a demonstration of the actual machine in motion here.
Millimeter wave machines are already in use at airports in Britain, Spain, Japan, Australia, Mexico, Thailand and the Netherlands. [Source CNN]