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Co-Ed Naked Airport Security: X-Ray Scanners Strip Search Passengers

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scannerIf you’re flying to Australia anytime soon, be prepared to show a lot of skin at the airport. From now until the end of November, Melbourne airport is testing out new X-ray scanners that can see through clothing and leave little to the imagination. The scanners may soon replace pat downs with “virtual strip searches,” which officials say will save time at security check points. For the trial period, only passengers who volunteer will be scanned.

The full-body scanners use low-energy X-rays that reflect off skin to provide chalky images of naked bodies. They will reveal any hidden objects, even nonmetal ones that would be bypassed by traditional metal detectors.

But is it really necessary to see everything? Apparently, yes. Cheryl Johnson, general manager of the Office of Transport Security, says they decided not to blur out genitals or breasts because it would “severely limit the detection capabilities.” They will, however, blur out people’s faces. Johnson also assures passengers that the images will not be saved and that the security officer examining the images will be located in a private area (supposedly so they won’t be able to compare X-ray images with the real thing).

Not surprisingly, many are not happy with the idea of a peep show at check-in. The European Commission has been pushing to add these scanners to its airports but the European Parliament (the legislative body of the EU) voted today to put the measure on hold for further study.

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Image: flickr/ redjar

October 23rd, 2008 6:18 PM Tags: ,
by Nina Bai in Crime & Punishment, Technology Attacks! | 4 comments | RSS feed | Trackback >

4 Responses to “Co-Ed Naked Airport Security: X-Ray Scanners Strip Search Passengers”

  1. 1.   Full Body Xray Says:
    October 29th, 2008 at 1:01 pm

    Thankfully they voted to put this on hold till further investigations on privacy and health have been completed.

    Its a great idea to combat terrorism but the full body xray just violates a persons human rights on all levels!

  2. 2.   The Living Says:
    January 23rd, 2009 at 12:49 pm

    Full Body, I’d like to be alive rather than be blown up thank you very much.

  3. 3.   Mr Bob Says:
    February 3rd, 2009 at 9:53 pm

    I would like one of the scanners to built into the next version of iphone…. come on Steve Jobs get with the times….

  4. 4.   HAIDER Says:
    May 28th, 2009 at 4:11 am

    Well.. i dont reckon this a smart idea at all, this is surely a unethical thing. Security at the stake of human respect must not be executed. regards.
    HAIDER HASHMI

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