Concerns about protecting aircraft from terrorist attacks escalated in late 2009 after a failed attempt to blow up an airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day. Despite tightened airport security measures after the 9/11 attacks, the would-be bomber managed to board the plane in Amsterdam with explosive powder sewn into his clothes. The incident prompted renewed efforts in the United States and elsewhere to tighten airport security.
As a key part of this effort, new full-body scanners are being installed at more airports in the U.S., Great Britain, the Netherlands, France and possibly other countries. The move is not without controversy, given concerns about privacy rights, costs, radiation exposure, and whether the scanners will make any difference. To date, scanners do not detect powders, liquids, thin pieces of plastic, or anything concealed within the body.
In the U.S., 40 of the scanners have been tested in 19 airports for the past few years. That number is expected to increase to a whopping 450 by the end of 2010. With an estimated 730 million passengers and 700 million pieces of baggage passing through U.S. airports every year, the increased use of the scanners promises to have an impact on a very large number of Americans.
Concerns Over Health Risks and Effectiveness
Experts say the two types of scanners in use – millimeter wave scanners and backscatter scanners – pose little health risk. Millimeter wave scanners use radio waves and backscatter scanners use extremely low levels of radiation, far less than from cosmic ray exposure received during flight. And, because backscatter systems do not penetrate much below the surface, the machines are useful for detecting objects hidden under clothing, but not anything that might be hidden in body cavities.
Critics of the expansion find a number of problems with the scanners and call their expanded use a “knee-jerk response,” typical of a nation that seems convinced technology can solve all problems. In addition to concerns about the effectiveness of the system, and disagreement about whether a scanner would have caught the explosives in the clothes of the would-be Christmas Day bomber, they worry about further passenger delays and indignities.
Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) officials believe the scanners will be effective, and are assuring the public that the screening only takes a matter of seconds and can be done as carry-on luggage is being scanned.
Privacy Groups Worry About What Could Become a “Virtual Strip Search”
The most vocal criticism of the body scanners comes from privacy rights activists who consider the process a “virtual strip search” and an insult to the dignity of passengers. In addition to hidden packages and materials, the machines also reveal body curves. Groups seeking to ban the machines worry the images could be fodder for web-based peepshows, or worse.
Responding to concerns about privacy rights, TSA authorities say that to ensure privacy rights are honored, images are blurred so that people can’t be identified, that images will not be stored, and that they will be read in a separate area so the reader does not see the passenger, and that the scan operator is forbidden to have a camera or a cell phone that can take pictures while on the job.
TSA also says that passengers have a choice: if they object to the scan they have the option of a full-body pat-down, though passengers in other countries using the scanners may not be given that option. Privacy advocates would like to see TSA’s assurances take the form of regulations.
Another concern is cost. Each scanner costs about $150,000 – although equipment prices may come down as more are ordered – in addition to training and manpower costs. The cost has prevented a number of countries from considering the new equipment without proof that it will be an effective deterrent to terrorists.
Tied to cost is the additional worry that the expense will divert security resources from other efforts to protect aircraft, such as training staff to detect suspicious behaviors in potential terrorists before they board a plane, greater use of bomb-sniffing dogs, and swab tests that can detect minute traces of explosives on hands and luggage.