Body Scanners: Innovation or Invasion?

The September 11^th attacks were a scary time for many of us. I still remember that day vividly. At first, I thought it was an elaborate prank played by my Marine Corps Sergeant's Course instructors, but when they were just as shocked as the rest of us, and after changing to several different channels, it finally sank in. There was no way that I could believe something like that could ever happen on American soil. These attacks, and the several more minor ones that have followed it, have created a huge push for the government to use any technological advances they can invent to make air travel safe once more. From bomb sniffing machines to better x-ray equipment, there has been some improvement in this area. The biggest advances toward safety have been in the paperwork and booking regulations that have arisen. Now there are going to be new body scanners installed in many major airports across the country. Some airports already have these scanners in place and are currently using them. Eighty-eight more airports will be utilizing them by the end of Spring 2010. The big question on people's minds is whether they will improve safety. Here is a real look at what their capabilities are.

When it comes to the new full body scanners there are a few improvements to air travel. The biggest thing that everyone has been waiting for is the increased speed at the checkpoints. For many months now there has been a huge delay at the security stations. These delays have been known to make people late for their flights. If you have to go back to the ticket counter or out of the passenger's area for any reason, most commonly to smoke, then you have to go through the entire process once again. The new body scanners will drastically reduce these delays. You will be able to just walk straight through the checkpoint and keep going. Your carry-on luggage will still likely have to go through the individual scanner, but the need to remove your shoes, jacket, sweatshirts, or any more of your wardrobe, will be a thing of the past. It will be just as quick as it used to be prior to 9-11. The only delay will be if you choose not to utilize the scanners. This will slow things down for you. They will make you very uncomfortable if you do not wish to use the new system by making you take even more off, getting frisked, and being sniffed by dogs or the bomb detection machines.

The advantages to travel stop there. Other than speeding things up, these machines may actually make travel even more unsafe than pre-9-11. The way that these machines work is by using a weak CT scan type machine that can "see" through your clothing. In theory, this will be able to detect any explosives under your clothes and any devices you are hiding in your pocket or under clothes will be visible to the attendant. This almost sounds fool proof. The big problem with this is that C-4, one of the most common and highly explosive substance on the market, is just as pliable as Silly Putty. You can even add some food coloring or makeup to it to make it a nice flesh tone hue. With one of these body scanners, you could actually mold an entire body suit from this explosive and walk through the scanner without anyone even noticing. One pound of this stuff can do some serious damage, and now, you have just gotten several pounds through the checkpoint and probably got a nice wave and smile while doing it. This incident is not very likely to happen, but someone making their thighs slightly fatter or even getting a temporary breast augmentation with C-4 is a very real threat. This can still get several pounds of the stuff through the gate with no warnings or anything.

Another downfall is the fact that a picture will be taken of you in your "birthday suit." Some people may not worry about this, but many of us do not want some guy in a secure room ogling our nakedness. Another problem with this is that the machine will actually store your image. Of course, the manufacturer states, with government reassurances, that the images will be deleted as soon as the person is looked at, but that may not be entirely true. I am sure the images will be deleted from the system memory shortly after they are looked at, but some, probably many, of these images will be deleted to disc for later use by the monitor and thier friends. Anyone that is famous or even slightly attractive, may find their airport pictures floating around on YouTube or some pornography site. There will be a huge market for these pictures in the near future. The market will likely drop off after a while but that just means the operator will only get $5 per image instead of $10 from these sites. With 100's of travelers daily, this would make a nice augmenting income for the person observing the images.

For those that do not want to be violated like this, you can still choose to go through the old methods, but like I mentioned earlier in the article, you will be mistreated. Not only will others in line look down at you for making it take longer, but you will be subjected to several "security" measures like wand detectors, bomb sniffing dogs or machines, and you will be frisked. So it will boil down to whether you want someone alone in a back room staring at your nakedness, or you can be groped by another security guard. Either way, your rights will be violated.

The only thing that these new body scanners will provide is a false sense of security. This will be more dangerous than before the 9-11 attacks occurred. At least at that point we were just complacent, and not did not fully let our guard down. This will make people think that there is no way anything can get through, when in reality, pounds of explosives are making their way through the gate. So these scanners may offer increased speed and convenience, but they will rob you of your rights, and make air travel less safe. This is a giant leap backwards in the defense of our airports and airlines. I am sure the terrorists can't wait until this spring when most major airports begin using this new device. Their job will be much easier and they will have an excuse to incorporate arts and crafts to their plans of destruction.

Sources:

Scanners to be Installed at Lindbergh Field - San Diego Union Tribune