Thursday, January 7, 2010

Airport Body Scanners...Are your Fruit of the Loom Safe?

It appears that body scanners at airports, FOR THE MOMENT are "voluntary" but you MUST BE PREPARED FOR A BODY PAT DOWN.  That is required.  This issue of body scanning,  has been a big topic of conversation lately..in fact I made a post just the other day concerning this topic. 

Here are a few of the questions that you might like to have answered. 

Do they save these images that are taken?  Answer:  "There is no storage capability. No cameras, cellular telephones, or any device capable of capturing an image is permitted in the remotely-located resolution room. Use of such a device is a terminable offense."

Are these body scans HARMFUL?  There were two answers to this question. 
"Two types of scanners currently exist: the millimeter wave scanner and the backscatter scanner.


"Millimeter wave technology bounces harmless electromagnetic waves off the human body to create a black and white image. The energy emitted by millimeter wave technology is 10,000 times less than what is permitted for a cell phone. "
"Backscatter technology projects an ionizing X-ray beam over the body surface at high speed. The reflection, or backscatter, of the beam is detected, digitized and displayed on a monitor. Each scan produces less than 10 microrem of emission, equivalent to the exposure each person receives in about two minutes on an airplane flight at altitude."

WHO sees these images?   (I would certainly want to know...wouldn't you?)... here is the answer to that question.
"Passenger privacy is ensured through the anonymity of the image. The transportation security officer attending the passenger cannot view the image, and the remotely-located officer who views the image cannot physically see the passenger. Images are not stored, transmitted or printed and are deleted immediately once viewed by the remotely-located officer."
 
Um, how much of your body is revealed in this body scan?  (You might wanna take notice in the answer to this one).  "A privacy algorithm blurs facial features."   Uh huh!    A FULL BODY SCAN is conducted...You,  and  your children's...Just no facial features.  Are you happy now?  Are you resting assured about anonymity?    Would you be happy if your CHILD'S face was blurred, but they could STILL see a full body scan????


http://travel.aol.com/travel-ideas/articles/faq-body-scanners?ncid=AOLCOMMtravdynlprim0754&icid=main|htmlws-main-n|dl5|link3|http%3A%2F%2Ftravel.aol.com%2Ftravel-ideas%2Farticles%2Ffaq-body-scanners%3Fncid%3DAOLCOMMtravdynlprim0754

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