Body Scanners, From Airports to Football Games
Written by Teresa Knudsen. First published on Suite 101 January 11, 2010.
Republished January 11, 2012 on Sweet Suite Writings

Body Scanners, From Airports to Football Games

On Christmas Day, 2009, a passenger on Northwest Flight 253 was charged with trying to blow up an airliner, traveling the Netherlands to Detroit. According to reports, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab concealed an explosive, PETN, or pentaerythritol, also used by the "shoe bomber" Richard Reid, and tried to blow up the plane.

Reports indicate that in November 2009, the man's father tried to warn the Nigerian US embassy of his son's religious beliefs, but that the warning was ignored. In addition, although Abdulmutallab's name was in the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, people on the list are not stopped from taking a plane to the United States.

The U.S. Transportation Safety Administration, with the Obama administration and Congress, is working to compel all airline travelers to undergo full-body scans, which might or might not reveal explosives such as PETN, but which would reveal a person's body unclothed in complete detail resulting in pornography, and which would give dangerous radiation to travelers.

Body Scanners

There are two general types of scanners, as explained by Jeremy Hsu in his April 1, 2009 article "Airport Body Scanners Reveal All."

"The TSA has tested two technologies, including "millimeter wave" (MMW) technology which bounces radio-frequency waves off people to construct a 3-D image within a few seconds. TSA also temporarily leased four "backscatter" units which use X-ray scanning, although the MMW method is currently faster."

Practical Issues

There is concern that not only will the body scanners cause further delays at airports, but also that the body scanners are not an effective counter-terrorism tool, according to Mark Guarino's recent article in the Christian Science Monitor.

In the article, the senior editor of Aviation Week, Andrew Compart, explained that the 45 second scan per passenger will create hours of delays for air travelers. In additon, Compart believes that better intelligence-gathering is a more effective tool for anti-terrorism than body scanning.

Some in Congress agree. As reported by John Hayes in the Chicago Tribune, Representative Jason Chhaffetz, R-Utah, stated on January 8, 2010:

“We don’t need to look at naked 8-year-olds and grandmothers to secure airplanes. Are we really going to subject 2 million people per day to that? I think it’s a false argument to say we have to give up all of our personal privacy in order to have security.”

The discussion will continue. Besides airports, government and business have plans to expand the use of body scanners to public gatherings, such as sports events, and to general body scanning on the street, by mobile vehicles, or even scanners on lamp posts. The Dutch police are working on a mobile scanner, for mass scans of crowds. British security are working on street scanning.
For further discussion, see "Britain Requires Air Passengers to be Scanned."

References

• American Civil Liberties Union. "Body Scanners." March 15, 2002.
• The Bill of Rights. National Archives Records Administration.
• Benen, Steve. "Michael Chertoff's Pushing 'Full-Body Scanner for Airports but He Has a Conflict of Interest." Washington Monthly. January 2, 2010.
• Chertoff, Michael. "Former Homeland Security Chief Argues for Whole-Body Imaging." The Washington Post, January 1, 2010.
• Foehammer. "Body Scanners. Do Not Submit." January 6, 2010.
• Guarino, Mark. "Airport Security: Two Alternatives to Full-body Scanners." The Christian Science Monitor, December 31, 2009.
• Hayes, John C. "Privacy Activists Score Victories against More Detailed Body Scanners at Airports." Chicago Tribune. Sunday, January 10th, 2010.
• Hsu, Jeremy. "Airport Body Scanners Reveal All." LiveScience, April 1, 2009.
• Savage, David. "Privacy Activists Score Victories Against More Detailed Body Scanners at Airports." Chicago Tribune, January 10, 2010.
• Warren, Scott. "Full-body Airport Scanners Face Further Delays..." January 5, 2010.
• Watson, Paul Joseph. "Now Mobile Devices Will Scan on the Street." Friday, January 8, 2010.

 

Heathrow Staff Print and Circulate Star's Scan
Written by Teresa Knudsen. Published on Suite 101 February 09, 2010.
Republished January 11, 2012 on Sweet Suite Writings

Heathrow Staff Print and Circulate Star's Scan

Forced body scanners for the public began on Christmas 2009, after a man without a passport boarded several international flights on his way to Detroit, where he was allegedly planning to blow up the airplane with an explosive substance planted in his pants.

This incident was followed with plans by various government employees to set in rapid motion the requirement that people undergo body scans whenever and wherever the government employees decide. The testing has begun in large airports, such as Britain's Heathrow Airport, which implemented a policy of mandatory scanning for selected travelers. Those refusing the scan for whatever reason are not allowed to board the plane.

One of the criticisms of the body scanners is that they violate a traveler's privacy, as well as breaking child pornography laws. UK Transport Secretary Adonis had tried to insist in the London Weekly Standard that the traveler's scanned image would be visible to only one person, and the image not stored, but immediately destroyed.

Now, the transport secretary's assurances are destroyed, with the news that Heathrow employees did exactly what many people had predicted: Airport staff saved, printed, and circulated the scanned image of a traveler, Indian star Shak Ruhk. The employees broke all the rules.

Paul Joseph Watson on Prison Planet calls for an immediate end to the use of body scanners, and the end to the government employees' "virtual strip search...especially in light of the fact that such images of minors break child pornography laws. ”

The devices known as "body scanners" are raising a spectrum of concerns:

Body Scanners Force Radiation onto People

The body scanner technology is forcing doses of radiation onto people. Many scientists maintain that there is no safe level of radiation. Even supporters of the body scanning radiation note that they can't guarantee the safety of the machines' radiation. There is specific concern with victimizing children by forcing them to undergo radiation, as well as women who are pregnant or don't know they are pregnant. Thus, the forced radiation of people is a concern.

The Inter-Agency Committee on Radiation Safety report includes this information, as summarized by Jonathan Tirone in his article "Airport Body Scanning Raises Radiation Exposure, Committee Says."
"The Committee cited the IAEA’s 1996 Basic Safety Standards agreement, drafted over three decades, that protects people from radiation. Frequent exposure to low doses of radiation can lead to cancer and birth defects, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "

Body Scanners Violate Due Process, Search and Seizure, and Habeas Corpus

The body scanners are deployed, in military terms, and search people without probable cause. This action by government employees violates the constitutions and rights belonging to human beings. Thus, the "virtual strip search" is illegal.

According to court rulings, strip searches are only to be "...performed on a person who has already been found guilty of a crime or on arrestees pending trial where a reasonable suspicion has to exist that they are carrying a weapon. Subjecting masses of people to blanket strip searches in airports reverses the very notion of innocent until proven guilty."

Body Scanners Lack Decency

Many people are expressing strong feelings about being strip searched by a machine and viewed by airport staff. There is especial concern about protecting children from this treatment.
With the now-infamous alleged plot to blow up a plane on Christmas 2009, many air travelers indicated in surveys that they would be willing to undergo a full-body scan. Yet, with the clear printed proof that the body scan images can be stored, printed, and circulated by airport staff to the general public, many people are now wondering whether body scans are worth the costs.


References

"Watson, Paul Joseph. “Exposed: Naked Body Scanner Images Of Film Star Printed, Circulated By Airport Staff." Feb. 9, 2010.
Jonathan Ross Show. BBC. Friday, February 5, 2010.
This Didn't Take Long to Happen: Naked Body Scanner Images of Film Star Printed, Circulated by Airport Staff." Haystack Commentary II. Feb. 09, 2010.
Tirone, Jonathan. "Airport Body Scanning Raises Radiation Exposure, Committee Says." Bloomberg.com. Feb. 05, 2010.