Full-Body Scanners Spark Controversy

Airports around the world have recently decided to tighten their security after an Al-Qaida linked suicide bomber attempted to blow up a Detroit-bound airplane. One of the ways airport security can detect hidden explosives or weapons is through something known as full body scanners.

Body-scanning machines show images of people underneath their clothing, and can easily reveal intimate body parts. According to CNN, here is how the machines really work:

“There are two types of device which offer full-body scans. Millimeter wave scanners use extremely high frequency radio waves which are processed by a computer to produce a detailed 3D image of air passengers. Backscatter scanners use high energy rays that — unlike X-rays which penetrate objects — scatter when they hit materials, allowing computers to render a detailed image and detect substances such as explosives and plastic weapons. Both scanners, unlike conventional X-rays, can strip away layers of clothing, accurately mapping the contours of the body, any prosthetics beneath the skin, as well as clothing and metallic and non-metallic objects.”

Full-body scanners have been installed in several airports in the United Kingdom, and that alone has sparked a bit of controversy. Since the machines create nearly-nude images of people, should minors be exempt from passing through them?

Terri Dowty from the Action for Rights of Children, warns that the scanners could breach the Protection of Children Act 1978, under which it is illegal to create an indecent image or a “pseudo-image” of a child.

Privacy campaigners in the UK agree with Dowty, and feel that the body scanners are virtual strip searches.

You can judge for yourself by looking at the type of image that is produced by a full body scanner:

Who sees the images taken by the body scanner? Current systems use two security officers, including one individual who works the machine. This person never sees the images, which appear on a computer screen behind closed doors. Another officer, who never sees the passenger, views the images. Software is being developed that could replace human operators with a computer, however there are concerns that electronic surveillance would fail to pick up on the same kind of detail.

While I understand that the body scanner images are supposed to be viewed and discarded by one security officer in some isolated room, it still feels uncomfortable to be forced to walk through some machine that reveals your unmentionables to a nameless and faceless individual. We are also assuming that the security guard will view the image and delete it immediately. Isn’t that putting too much power in the hands of one person? I would feel even more uncomfortable if my child were to walk through the machine.

Obviously, there are other methods of searching travelers that don’t require them to go through a humiliating process. Metal detectors and pat downs could be sufficient enough if performed properly.

What are your thoughts?