New TSA Regulations - Is it too much?

          Since January 2010 the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has been rolling out what they term Advanced Imaging Technology, or Whole Body Imaging, at airports around the United States. These devices are used to perform a virtual strip search of passengers, looking beneath the clothes to display a picture of the skin. The TSA originally said that these machines would be used only for secondary screening, for those passengers that set off an alarm at the walk-through metal detector or Explosives Trace Detection (ETD) machine. They are now being used as primary screening at 45 airports, to take nude images of passengers who have done nothing more suspicious than present a boarding pass.

          Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) is also known as Whole Body Imaging (WBI). This technology uses radiation to penetrate a person's clothes and create a nude image of the person. This technology is used to determine whether or not a person has hidden items under clothing. The TSA considers the images produced by AIT to be "family friendly". The image above is from an AIT scan of a man named John Wild using backscatter X-ray. This image is a low-resolution copy of the original, so it does not show as much detail as the original. Do you consider this image family friendly?

          These images are generated using radiation, either from a backscatter X-ray or millimeter wave device. Scientists and researches are already questioning the safety of irradiating thousands of people per day at every airport in the country. 

Privacy Risks

          Aside from the health risks of these devices, the fact remains that they allow strip searches to be conducted on a wide-scale level. That they are automated and mechanical in no way changes the fact that when a government agent looks beneath your clothing you are being strip searched. These strip searches are being performed without any probable cause or reasonable suspicion, as primary screening. 

Property Risks

          There are also property risks. During the time that a person is inside the full body imaging machine, it is impossible to maintain a line of sight to his or her belongings. Remember that because you cannot have anything in your pockets during the scan, this will include all your identification, money, and all personal items. Numerous thefts have been reported at security checkpoints, including incidents that led to the firing of four TSA employees at JFK as ABC News reported.

Benefits

          The benefits of the virtual strip searches are that these machines can confirm only that the imaged areas look normal, but not that items have not been hidden in body cavities or under folds of skin. Unlike existing metal detectors and Explosives Trace Detection (ETD) machines, these devices cannot determine whether the person being imaged is carrying metal or explosives.