Is Whole Body Imaging Coming to an Airport Near You?

Travel Blog  •  Rob Verger  •  04.10.09 | 10:49 AM ET

Will full-body scanners eventually replace the traditional metal detector as a primary screening device at U.S. airports? It seems likely, reports Joe Sharkey for the New York Times. “Robin Kane, the agency’s acting chief technology officer, said that the initial results from pilot tests at some checkpoints at 19 airports in the United States had been so good that the idea of using the machines as the standard checkpoint detectors made sense,” Sharkey writes.

“Assuming tests continue to be positive,” Sharkey adds, “the machines will eventually be used at most domestic airports.”

Click here to see where some of this technology is already in use and to learn more about how it works.

Over at Slate, William Saletan reacts to the news, and says that while initially he had been a fan of the new technology, now he is having “second thoughts.” And on Joe Sharkey’s personal blog, High Anxiety, he worries about privacy issues, and asks, “Has anybody grabbed the domain name celebritiesstrippedattheairport.com yet? And all of the creepy variations?” (The TSA says the images aren’t stored.)

The new technology does promise to be much more effective than a traditional metal detector, and its use could also lead to those annoying restrictions on liquids being discontinued. But there is a clear violation of privacy. What do you think? Does the new technology go too far? And has anyone out there been through one of these new contraptions?

Tags: Air Travel, Airports, Airworld, Travel and Security, North America, United States, News and Briefs

Rob Verger

Rob Verger is a frequent contributor to World Hum and the site's former air travel blogger. His articles and photographs have appeared in the Boston Globe and other publications, and he's a former undergraduate writing instructor at Columbia University. If you like, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or follow him on Twitter.


3 Comments for Is Whole Body Imaging Coming to an Airport Near You?

Goldenkleats 04.12.09 | 1:23 AM ET

A useless article, perhaps? http://illumin.usc.edu/article.php?articleID=170

Personally, I trust the technology. But the privacy discussion is by no means a minor issue. This will need some more thinking over the boundaries between personal safety and personal privacy.

Goldenkleats 04.12.09 | 1:24 AM ET

useful* not useless :)

Jessi 05.20.09 | 2:26 PM ET

I watched this video today listing all the privacy measures they are taking:  the attendees cannot see the actual people they are scanning and only one person had access to the body-scanning machine’s actual image. Also, the faces are not visible. 
A start?
http://www.newsy.com/videos/airport_dilemma_security_vs_privacy

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