Full Body X-Ray or Physical Pat Down?

Post-9/11 Era Forum

PHOENIX — An X-ray security scanner that can see through clothing was scheduled to get its first live test Friday at Sky Harbor International Airport and could be rolled out to two other major airports by year's end.

The so-called "backscatter" technology has been controversial, with critics saying the high-resolution images are too invasive. But the Transportation Security Administration adjusted the machine's images so the normally graphic pictures can be blurred in certain areas while still being effective at detecting concealed weapons or other threats.
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"I think the work we've done with the industry to address the privacy concerns has really done well," said Nico Melendez, an agency spokesman.

The machine will be tested for up to 90 days at a single checkpoint at Sky Harbor's largest terminal, which hosts US Airways and Southwest Airlines, two of the airlines with the most flights in and out of Phoenix. The technology could be left in place after the trial period, and Melendez said the agency hopes to also roll out the technology at Los Angeles International Airport and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport by year's end.

During the pilot program, the machine will be used only as a secondary screening measure; passengers who fail the standard screening process will be able to choose between the new device or a typical pat-down search.

"It's 100 percent voluntary, so if the passenger doesn't feel comfortable with it the passenger doesn't have to go through it," Melendez said.

Melendez declined to discuss the TSA's method for determining which passengers are selected for secondary screening.

The TSA said that the security officer who works with the passenger going through the screening will never see the image the machine produces. The images will be viewed by another officer who will be about 50 feet away and won't see the passenger.

The machine can't store the image or transmit them. "Once we're done screening the passenger, the image is gone forever," Melendez said.

I don't mind the X-ray if it can locate plastique and other sources of weapons other than metal. Sometimes, the pat-down may not be thorough enough.

Big Brother crapola. Facist crap makes me want to puke.

-HECK!

i don't see what the problem is...

shoot, i'd rather have that then someone touching me.

I saw on the news when this first came out that it's hard to detect clear liquids if they are in plastic bags with this thing. So it can still be fooled if someone want to smuggle something on board, but besides that it looks like it would be more effective than a pat down.

Better to be watched by a voyeur than groped directly.