'Naked view' scanner goes on airport trial
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Independent Minds
Dave Thompson/PA Wire
A member of staff from Manchester Airport highlights two points of threat on a scan from the new X-ray machine which is being trialled by the airport.
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An X-ray machine that produces "naked" images of passengers was introduced at an airport today, enabling staff to instantly spot any hidden weapons or explosives.
The full body scanner, being trialled at Manchester Airport, will also show up any breast enlargements, false limbs, piercings, and a clear outline of passengers' private parts.
Some travellers might not want to be scanned because of the graphic nature of the images, bosses admit.
They can refuse to undergo the virtual strip search at Terminal 2, opting for the traditional "pat down" search instead.
But the black and white image will only be seen by one officer in a remote location before it is deleted, Sarah Barrett, head of customer experience at the airport, said.
"Most of our customers do not like the traditional "pat down" search, they find it too intrusive, but they still want to be kept safe.
"This scanner completely takes away the hassle of needing to undress. The images are not erotic or pornographic and they cannot be stored or captured in anyway," she said.
The scanner, made by the firm RapiScan Systems, makes the check-in process much quicker for passengers, who will not have to remove their coats, shoes or belts.
"Passengers can go through this machine 5,000 times a year each without worrying, it is super safe and the amount of radiation transmitted is tiny," Ms Barrett said.
The scanners, which cost £80,000 each, were also trialled at Heathrow Airport in 2004. The Department for Transport will decide whether to install them permanently at the end of the trial, which is expected to last for a year.
Electromagnetic waves are beamed on to passengers while they stand in a booth, and a virtual three-dimensional "naked" image is created from the reflected energy.
Security officials in the United States have pioneered their use at New York and Los Angeles airports, and they are gradually being rolled out in other airports in the country.
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Comments
When are we gonna have the courage to say enough is enough? I am, right now.
Only a matter of time before Ryanair will be using these things in order to levy a surcharge on abnormally-sized personal "baggage".
against the army of jobsworths, parking-attendants-turned-"security"-sta
Having a go at a parking attendant, will just lead to accusations of verbal abuse, assault or whatever. Losing your rag and accidentally letting a swear word slip out when you're on the phone to an idiot in a call centre just gets you cut off.
We've been segregated from our neighbours by our own fear that they may be psychos, paedophiles or just plain weird. No help there then.
Aside from getting annoyed, it just appears that there's not an awful lot we can do to rebel, without properly articulating what the problem is.
We all know, intuitively, that something's very wrong, but few can properly express exactly what it is.
The police are using StreetView for planning and checking security/changes to properties.
The local police man even said they could request higher definition pictures.
The planning departments are using StreetView to check what building work has been done.
You can even check which houses have "Vote ..." stickers.
Or which houses have religious symbols like candle sticks in the windows.
So how can we NOT expect the pictures of our naked bodies to be used for medical research and population monitoring in the future. It is just another database like DNA. These machines can be set up anywhere and you will never know them, from any other detector arch.
It is the function of government to stop databases being created, and to hold back invasive technology. Not to be the ones sponsoring and encouraging it.
If we walked along the street in a body hugging sprayed plastic suit, showing all, we would be arrested. So why is this not illegal. Building this technology is simple so will everyone be allowed to use them.
This is just one more degrading attack on our dignity.
Why the hell are we just laying down and taking it up the @r$3 by these 'authorities'?
Phone tapping, DNA database, ID cards, National Identity Register, Contactpoint, CCTV everywhere, and now this: a humiliating ritual for us all to succumb to before we travel anywhere.
Cue comments from the 'if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear' brigade.
Al-Bundy or whatever they are called, can only plot against the west in Afghanistan under taliban control, that is why we have to stay there, so they say. Therefore it must follow that, they can't plot against the west while the troops are there, so we don't need to spend money on x-ray stuff.
It will be ironic if these machines cause more deaths from cancer than they save from people we piss off.
"Frequent flyers do not need to worry about radiation from the low-level X-ray, she said, and a dental X-ray transmits 20,000 times more radiation.
How much do you need to get cancer then?
"Passengers can go through this machine 5,000 times a year each without worrying, it is super safe and the amount of radiation transmitted is tiny," Ms Barrett said. "
So 5,001 times is the one that gives you cancer, like I said an expert in radiation.
Which means one visit to the dentist for an x-ray which is the same as 20,000 visits to the airport in one go, could be very fatal in Dr. Barrett's professional opinion, seen as she has capped it at 5000 units per year.
They should stand beside us when we do it, just to prove it's safe. New job for Dr. Barrett.
"Sarah Barrett, head of customer experience at the airport said....."
(who is also an expert on radiation too it seems, which is nice.)
"Most of our customers do not like the traditional "pat down"
But they will love this?
How does she know most "customers"(I like to be called a person) find the pat down too intrusive?
I find it hard to believe that she has got feedback from most of her, erm... punters, suspects, oh ye customers. I have never been asked how I felt about it. Have you?
I suppose if you become head of cutomer experience, at an airport, you must be good at making things up as, you go along. Have you ever noticed when, you get your ticket, or buy something at an airport, they always say, have a nice flight, because your stay at the airport won't be.