New Heathrow Security Undresses Passengers (1063 hits)
Category: GeneralRating: 2 on 7 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Quartermain (View user info) at 2004-11-16 12:57:15 EST
I got this article off of Reuters. I'm not sure which is worse, these or those damn traffic cameras that take pictures of your car and mail you tickets. Which ever it is, I'm sure it's only a matter of percentage points in the difference.
George Orwell must be laughing his ass off, where ever he is.
New X-ray machine at Heathrow sees through clothes
Updated: 10:40 a.m. ET Nov. 16, 2004
LONDON - A new X-ray machine at London's Heathrow airport, which sees through passengers' clothes, has been attacked by civil liberties campaigners as a "voyeur's charter". The machine uses low-level radiation to see through clothing, producing an anatomically detailed black and white image of the body underneath.
Capable of detecting solid objects concealed under clothing, it started a four month trial in October. Randomly picked passengers are asked if they will volunteer to be scanned by the machine.
"I stood in front of the screen and they took three pictures in different positions," said passenger Pernille Nielsen.
"I don't mind if the pictures are a little more personal as long as I'm safe in air—that's what matters," she told Reuters.
Another passenger, Maria Love, said: "It's all about being safe, and I really have no problem with it."
A spokeswoman for BAA Heathrow said 98 percent of participants gave positive feedback.
But British civil rights group Liberty called the X-ray images unjustified and intrusive. "We obviously do not object to taking security measures, but I remain totally unconvinced that it is necessary," a spokesman said.To justify the intrusion, the airport should show current detectors are inadequate, he added."It's an obvious invasion of people's privacy—it's a voyeur's charter."
The American Transport Security Administration, which has considered using the machines at U.S. airports, echoed Liberty's concerns. "There are a number of privacy issues that need to be addressed before we would do field tests," a spokeswoman said. Scanners currently looking for concealed weapons or explosives on passengers have shown limitations in the past. Traditional X-ray machines used to scan baggage have often struggled to identify plastic explosives, accidentally sounding alarms when detecting chocolate, cheese and peanut butter because of their similar density to the explosive Semtex.
Heathrow, which for security reasons declined to say how the new X-ray machine improves on current scanners, denies the machines could cause embarrassment. "It's a very low dose X-ray, the images are not stored, it's same sex operated and the operator that sees the image will not see the person," said the airport spokeswoman. "There will not be a situation that could cause embarrassment," she added. Heathrow is one of the world's busiest airports, handling around 64 million passengers a year.
User Reviews
Submitted by Phallic_Cymbals (user info) at 2004-11-17 11:07:30 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Notice how they only seemed to test it on women?
Submitted by spedmonkey (user info) at 2004-11-16 17:36:32 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
If they ever make a portable version, I'll buy one.
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2004-11-16 17:27:20 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
http://www.ubersite.com/m/45360
Submitted by SAECULUM.AUREUM (user info) at 2004-11-16 13:38:20 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Delicious!
Submitted by GodLovesALittleLovin (user info) at 2004-11-16 13:11:57 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Ah...that's some funny stuff.
Submitted by OneCheapGeek (user info) at 2004-11-16 13:04:50 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I have the feeling men will be cross-dressing to use one of these....
Submitted by BLITZKREIG_BOB (user info) at 2004-11-16 13:00:14 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
You never know, it might find a tumor or something.