Airport Security: You're
about to get radiation at the airport 
Tuesday, October 9th,
2007
You know those thick, heavy, lead
aprons they put on you at the dentist when you need to get an
X-ray, to protect you from radiation? Unless you have a full-body
version of that, you may get zapped by radiation soon when you go to the
airport. Los Angeles International, Phoenix Sky Harbor, and
New York's Kennedy airports are getting "backscatter" X-ray machines,
thanks to the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, to scan under
passengers' clothing for hidden weapons. And you know how like to
wish for "X-ray vision?" Bingo.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
has called this a "virtual strip search," because the anatomical view
that can be seen through the backscatters can be vivid. The TSA
claims that because of privacy concerns, they will utilize software that
will mostly blur the body image and show only objects the person might
be concealing. Oh yeah, right. Just like when they X-ray our
suitcases now, and they zoom in and refocus on items to see what they
are. Will we find out if that's Christina Aguilera's natural
chest, or if Kim Kardashian had butt implants? The possible
privacy issues run amock.
The "privacy algorithm" that would blur
body parts can't be completely effective, or else the blurring would
make it too difficult for screeners to find weapons, which is the entire
purpose, says Barry Steinhardt of the ACLU's technology program.
"There's a trade-off between revealing images, which might show
contraband and weapons, and the 'blob machine,' which misses many
things," he said.
The ACLU submitted a written statement
to the U.S. Senate Committe on Commerce, Science
and Transportation, calling the X-ray Backscatter "highly invasive
of personal privacy," would cause significant delays and subsquent
searches of numerous passengers, and should not be used routinely.
"There are some security measures that are extremely intrusive and
should be used only when there is good cause to suspect that an
individual is a security risk," they wrote. "Low-dose X-ray
backscatter machines...have been been conducted without good cause and
are based on profiles that are racially discriminatory. In
addition, these machines are capable of projecting a high-resolution
image of a passenger's naked body.
"Congress should prohibit X-ray
backscatter's use as part of a routine screening procedure.
Passengers expect privacy underneath their clothing and should not be
required to display highly personal details of their bodies - such as
evidence of mastectomies, colostomy appliances, penile implants,
catheter tubes, and size of their breasts or genitals - as a
prerequisite to boarding a plane.
"Even the presence of a seemingly
innoucuously shaped item, such as a prosthetic device or implant, will
require subsequent (and potentially humiliating) verification.
Thus, X-ray backscatter requires a tremencous envasion of privacy with
little speed or efficiency gains. The ACLU, therefore, recommends
that Congress not authorize and fund TSA's purchase of X-ray backscatter
machines."
The X-rays are already being used at
Amsterdam's Schiphol airport. No kidding - I've been to that
airport and they are light years ahead of us...they have commercials
playing in the glass of the lavatory mirrors, for chrissake. Back
to the radiation issue, the TSA admits that the machines do emit what
they claim to be "small amounts" of radiation. Being scanned by
the X-ray machine instead of the metal detector will initially only be
used on passengers who have to get a secondary screening. How
long, though, until they replace metal detectors completely?
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