TSA Expands Use of 'Backscatter' X-Ray Machines on Air Travelers
The Transportation Security Administration plans to expand its use of screening machines that look under passengers' clothing for hidden weapons. New York's Kennedy and Los Angeles International airports will get "backscatter" X-ray machines that the American Civil Liberties Union has called a "virtual strip search" for the vivid anatomical images they can create. Those airports and Phoenix Sky Harbor also will test a similar technology, using low-intensity millimeter waves, to scan passengers' bodies. Barry Steinhardt, head of the ACLU's technology program, said privacy filters make body imagers "useless as a security device" because blurring can make it difficult for screeners to see weapons.
TSA looks into using more airport body scans, USA Today, October 7, 2007.
