The thing is that the scanner blurs out your face and yes the operator is in a different room with no way to see who is going through the scanner. Scanned images are only kept if there is an issue for evidence. In some places they may be kept for a period of time ( ie 24 hours) in case they need to refer back to the scans. But I don't think that's happening anywhere. Being topless at TR is more intrusive than the scanner *L*
Personally... I don't give a hoot... and I've said before just training a bunch of bomb sniffing dogs would be cheaper, more effective, faster, and less provocative, but I guess there's not enough money to be made that way... As to what exactly is seen and what is stored there is a lot of conflicting information, and there have already been cases of celebrity's "scans" getting out and some inappropriate behavior by airport workers. Reports of machines not really blurring anything and of scans being saved forever have been floating around, but any verifiable info is hard to get with authorities citing security concerns. My logic tells me that if its good enough to find a tiny bag of pot in your pocket its going to be able to see everything else pretty clearly too.. and blurring things out would be counter productive as then everyone would just smuggle things in those areas they know are blurred out, so I think ""BS" when I hear that something is "electronically blurred" by the computers when they are operating normally, as opposed to in demo mode that tries to make the public feel less violated. There has also been uproar among some that scanning children amounts to producing child pornography, which seems like paranoid non-sense to me, especially considering how kids dress and act these days... but some (dirty minded people) think that any nudity (if you can even call it nudity since clothes aren't removed) equals pornography thus their argument/hysteria. As for the heath concerns, from what I understand there are different types of these machines, one DOES use low level x-rays which probably has some legitimate health risks, and the other technology uses microwaves which are said to be no more than what float though us everyday from cel phones and the like... as with most things it will be years before we see any adverse heath affects and by then it will be a bit late to do much about it other than quit using them. Basically I can see how celebrities and important people could be wary of the devices as it could be damaging to them if the scans got out, but for everybody else I don't think its any big deal or worth stressing over... EDIT: I think I've changed my mind a little on this.. not so much for the privacy concerns, but for the intrusion they represent and the slippery slope they'll lead us down "for the sake of security"...
I have zero concern about someone seeing my far less than perfect body image, but do have some concern about the radiation. You are probably right about alcohol being more harmful, but I have (or at least think I have) some control about how much alcohol I consume. As of today, I am going to choose not to take on any additional radiation from sources I can avoid. I actually have zero confidence in any government agency being competent in in anything, and am pretty pissed off about the way they screw up everything they touch. The whole Homeland Security thing is a joke, and I miss the days without the lines at security, and direct flights everywhere.
Here's what they see I can certainly see why the scans would be upsetting to a large number of people. Here is a link showing the image produced by these scanners. Body Scans at Airports « Where is Your Data? Meanwhile, the elderly lady I sat beside, on the way home from TTR last September, was relaxing....knitting a scarf..... with KNITTING NEEDLES??? LOL I have to think the majority of screening we have to endure these days is just very expensive window dressing. I don't like the thought of someone bringing a potential weapon on board but the fact is, with very little training, a terrorist can kill easily with his bare hands. Ou best defence, as passengers, is for everyone to be ready to take on a terrorist, rather than sitting back and hoping for the best.
I opted out of the scan in STL earlier this week and received a full body pat-down that would have cost $500 at any strip club on the east side:icon_eek::icon_eek: My return flight did not have the new equipment, so I didn't have to make a choice on that one.
I'm sure you've all heard about the new "ball busting" pat-down procedures the TSA has put in place to discourage people from opting out of the scanners by now... the ones that most agree would be sexual assault if done anywhere else for any other reason.... there are groups that are encouraging travelers this Thanksgiving season to opt-out and purposely slow down the lines to show their disapproval with the current system... we'll see what comes out of that, although I'd bet most sleeple....err I mean people... would not want to risk missing their flight and therefore won't participate in this "national opt-out day".... My good buddy Shepard Smith on FauxNews (yes, I sometimes watch FoxNews... strictly for entertainment) brought up a good point the other day.... we're already allowing ourselves and our children (14 year old daughters was the example he used) to be "virtually strip searched", and grouped by strangers for the illusion of security, so what happens when they catch someone with "explosives in their rectum"? It might sound comical, but it's very likely if you consider drug smugglers already do this... so do we then allow TSA to perform full cavity searches on us and our young children?... his point being, where does it stop?... and I have to agree with him... I think everyone wants to be safe, but at what cost? Is it going to get to the point where our children have to drop their pants and spread'em just to enter their school building everyday..."in the name of security"??? Where does it stop? I might have said scanners that see through clothes a few years back, but we've already gone beyond that...... :icon_eek:
Personally I would rather walk through the scanner than have a pat down and my opinion is based on nothing other than my personal comfort level. My experience flying in the last year has been the scanner is pretty random. I was sent to the scanner and my adult daughter who was in line with me was not and believe me the people seeing the images would rather see her silouette than mine. lol
I think the scanners are awesome! It will save a lot of time and trouble. I flew from Wabush, Labrador to Sept-Iles, Quebec and They patted every second person down, it delayed everything. Full body scanners would have eliminated the need for this. With that being said, neither of these Airports are big enough to justify a full body scanner.
Here's an article I found on the health risks for the scanners. CBC News - Health - Full-body scans: Exposing the risk I pulled out the most relevant piece below. Mammogram: 30 mrem Chest X-ray: 10 mrem CT scan (head and body): 1100 mrem Dental X-ray: 10 mrem Body scanner: 0.01 mrem Why does it matter if someone sees you naked on the scanner? They're in another room and your face is blurred.
