TSA body scans

Introduction

Full body scanners are an advanced security technology used to detect any suspicious belongings on a person’s physical body. They are widely used in airports. One airport security precaution occurs when you place your handheld belongings on a conveyor and airport officials survey them. Airports will also have passengers step through a metal detector, however, as the name implies, these only detect metal. These full body scanners are able to detect metal and nonmetal items, which became a great security concern after the multiple airline bombing attempts throughout the 2000s. These scanners are able to produce “an alternate-wavelength image of the person's naked body, or merely a cartoon-like representation of the person with an indicator showing where any suspicious items were detected.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_body_scanner) They are quickly replacing metal detectors in airports and train stations throughout the country.

Background

Not all weapons come in metallic form. Terrorists will work their way around the security clearances of the US government and that means no metal. There are so many potential weapons that can slip undetected through metal detectors. Such items could be as simple as sharply carved items out of wood or hard plastic. The TSA (transportation security administration) thinks they have found a way to combat malevolent individuals who wish harm to flying passengers. The answer is in the new full body scanning technology that can detect even more potential threats than ever before.

Benefits

      There are of course a few obvious benefits such as the ones aforementioned; however there may be a few that do not immediately come to mind. While being able to detect nonmetal weapons is obviously a huge benefit, this process is also significantly faster and less invasive than a strip search or pat down. The passengers will not have to remove any clothing in order for the officials to search them more effectively. This is a time consuming process in itself, and after the search, the whole thing could take up to 2 minutes. While this is not a lot of time, and not everyone is searched in this manner at the airport, it may still cause security lines to back up. Using this advanced technology, you can stand still with your hands up for about fifteen seconds, and you have just received the equivalent or more of a strip search. However, if there is any reason for risk you may still be patted down, it is all for your own safety. In some cases, this pat down is offered as an alternative to the scanners.

Legal and Ethical issues

Many people might prefer the pat down alternative because they reject the idea of sending pictures of their naked bodies to screening agents or being recorded by the government. Many people feel that this “technological strip search” is a violation of their basic rights, seeing as there is no probable cause for the action to be taken on every individual. Some women or men may have also had some sort of surgery and may have prosthetic or enhanced body parts, which could lead to an embarrassing physical inspection. Many of the TSA complaints come from women who feel singled out for multiple screenings for the amusement of the male security officers. It is often argued that these scans are in direct violation of the fourth amendment because they subject citizens to virtual searches with no evidence of wrongdoing. These scanners also unable to accurately detect security threats inside items such as turbans, burkas, casts, prosthetics, and loose clothing. This shortcoming may lead to additional searches by hand or other methods that might be considered harassment by the individual. Another great concern is the images of children may violate child pornography laws. Some children’s naked images are being presented without their parents consent or even present for the scan.