Controversial Body Scanners at NY, LA Airports

Airports in Los Angeles and New York are now equipped with body scanners that enable security screeners to see beneath the clothing of a passenger to detect any concealed weapons.

The machines are as big as a revolving door. They also utilize low-energy electromagnetic waves in producing a digital image of a passenger’s entire body. To use it, the passenger should step in and lift his arms. The scans only last for a minute.

The Transportation Security Administration claims that the procedure is actually less invasive than the usual physical frisk of guns, knives or bombs. Today, these machines are only used selectively but are seen to replace metal detectors in the near future.

John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and Los Angeles International Airport had these scanners installed at a single checkpoint each. Last October, Phoenix Sky-Harbor International Airport had one machine installed.

The problem is, modest passengers may have concerns about this kind of procedure because of the images. The pictures produced are black-and-white, 3D scans. They may not be as vivid as real photographs but they reveal some intimate shapes and curves of the human form.

 

* Body scanners works like an MRI, learn how does an MRI work.