Full Body Security Scans Coming to McCarran Airport
We’ve all heard the stories of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) getting ready to launch full-body scans at security check-ins in US airports, and they’re now a reality.
The first scanner was installed at the Phoenix, Arizona airport in April, and ten more are set to roll out over the next month - and one of those is McCarran Airport here in Las Vegas. (A few of the remaining will be at Reagan National and Baltimore-Washington International Airports in Washington; Dallas; Albuquerque; Miami and Detroit.)
The scanning is supposed to help bypass the need for pat-downs, and passengers will have the choice between the pat-down or the scan.
The scanning booths close around the passenger and emit “millimeter waves” that go through cloth to identify metal, plastics, ceramics, chemical materials and explosives, according to the TSA. But they’re also high tech enough to clearly see passenger’s private areas and other parts of their bodies, though the TSA says the faces are obscured.
They’re also quick to assure the public that there is no way for the officers to record, print, transmit or save the images (note that they say the officers won’t be able to do this, but they don’t say it can’t be done at all because if they need evidence for prosecution purposes how else are they going to get it? Then again, they’re supposedly not scanning faces, so how are they going to prove who’s who?), and that the image is quickly and permanently erased from the screen (no mention of the hard drive) after being viewed by TSA personnel in an enclosed room (will they be checked for cameras or other recording devices before each shift?).
What do you think of this? Now, I’m not prude and I don’t care if I’m called paranoid over this because there are still a lot of unanswered questions, but I don’t like it at all. Unfortunately, it’s looking to become a necessary evil if you want to travel to any major cities in the future, though. Is there an age limit for the scan - are they going to put children through? What if you refuse both the scan and the pat-down?
You could try and accept it by saying that the screeners will be seeing a lot of people each day and they’ll act professionally about it, maybe like your doctor would at a check-up, but there’s simply no way of ever knowing and really, I trust my doctor a hell of a lot more than some random security screener at the airport.
[image: sxc]
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2 opinions for Full Body Security Scans Coming to McCarran Airport
Matt B
Jun 11, 2008 at 2:09 pm
I assume these scans are only used if someone sets off the main metal detectors? I think as long as the option between the pat-down and the scan is available, it’s fine. It is sad that we have come to a point where the invasive scan is even necessary, but I’m not surprised. And, I’d much rather go through this than experience one of the horror stories about “private” rooms and strip searches.
Alicia
Jun 14, 2008 at 6:00 pm
This makes me want to just drive everywhere and never use air travel again.
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