| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"PagCal" |
| Date: |
16 Jun 2005 02:50:51 AM |
| Object: |
US Proposes All Airline Passengers Get Naked |
Backscatter X-Ray Technology
Backscatter X-ray technology is a method of using X rays to see inside
objects. The science is complicated, but the upshot is that you can see
people naked. The TSA has recently announced a proposal to use these
machines to screen airport passengers.
I'm not impressed with this security trade-off. Yes, backscatter X-ray
machines might be able to detect things that conventional screening
might miss. But I already think we're spending too much effort
screening airplane passengers at the expense of screening luggage and
airport employees...to say nothing of the money we should be spending on
non-airport security.
On the other side, these machines are expensive and the technology is
incredibly intrusive. I don't think that people should be subjected to
strip searches before they board airplanes. And I believe that most
people would be appalled by the prospect of security screeners seeing
them naked.
I believe that there will be a groundswell of popular opposition to this
idea. Aside from the usual list of pro-privacy and pro-liberty groups,
I expect fundamentalist Christian groups to be appalled by this
technology. I think we can get a bevy of supermodels to speak out
against the invasiveness of the search.
<http://www.epic.org/privacy/airtravel/backscatter/default.html>
<http://www.epic.org/privacy/surveillance/spotlight/0605.html>
News article:
<http://news.com.com/Airport+screeners+could+see+X-rated+X-rays/2100-734
8_3-5718163.html> or <http://tinyurl.com/caus8>
.
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