Washington - Airport security personnel in the US will soon be able to see passengers stark naked without their having to remove clothes, through a new X-ray machine that has generated much controversy. The agency in charge of the nation's air security expects to begin using later this year the controversial X-ray machine that will show airport screeners a clear picture of what's under passengers' clothes, whether weapons or just bare skin, according to USA Today. The refrigerator-sized new machines, considered a breakthrough in scanning technology, have been labelled "a virtual strip" by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). But according to transportation security administration (TSA), the new system makes it easy to see possibly dangerous devices.
Screeners plan to test these "backscatter" machines at several US airports. Security workers using the machines can see through clothes and peer at whatever may be hidden in undergarments, shirts or pants. The images also paint a revealing picture of a person's nude body. The devices can potentially be used to screen hundreds of millions of air travellers each year, although TSA says more study is needed to determine how the devices may be used at US airports. The agency has decline to say when and where it expects to test the machines.
According to American science and engineering (ASE), the machines costing $100,000 bounce low-radiation X-rays off a person's skin to produce photo-like computer images of metal, plastic and organic materials hidden under clothes. "Backscatter" technology has been waiting on the sidelines for nearly 4 years but seems poised now to move to the forefront of aviation security. The machines are already used by US customs agents at 12 airports to screen passengers suspected of carrying drugs. They are also getting a test run at a terminal in London's Heathrow airport, the first major airport to use them.
Source: daijiworld.com 18 May 2005
More info here: http://www.flatrock.org.nz/topics/terrorism/what_rights_are_left.htm
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