The scanners to be eliminated use X-rays to produce nude body images of airline passengers. Not only do they slow down the security checkpoint lines, passengers have long complained that the scans are a breach of their privacy. In addition, some have argued that the radiation-emitting machines pose as a health hazard, citing a “cluster” of Bostonian security officials who were diagnosed with cancer after the implementation of the scanners.
Rapiscan, the maker of the machines, admitted that they will not be able to meet a Congressional mandate deadline to resolve privacy issues before June 2013. The TSA ended their contract with Rapiscan on Friday and secured a contract with the L-3 Security and Detection System to create replacements for the Rapiscan scanners.
174 machines are currently being used across the country, and are one of two types of full-body scanners used in airports. The second type of scanner, which only creates an avatar-like image of the passenger, will still remain. Although it has yet to be decided where the removed scanners will go, the TSA is considering relocating them to other government agencies such as military bases and prisons.
I’d like to hear your opinions on the TSA’s removal of the scanners. Were these scanners actually a violation of privacy, or were they a just method of protecting the safety of the American people?
3 comments:
This controversy reminds me of the controversy surrounding the USA Patriot Act when it was first enacted in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The particular provision of the Act that I thought was most similar to the full-body scans controversy was the federal government's ability to monitor the book logs or internet usage of a citizen whom they suspected was engaged in terrorist activity. Though some argued that this was a breach of privacy, supporters of the Act explained that if one has nothing to hide, they should have nothing to fear from such a provision of the Patriot Act. I believe the same argument applies to the full-body scanners, although the production of nude body images instead of avatar-like images that the scanners' counterparts create is unnerving. Therefore, I would claim that the scanners that produce avatar-like images are not breaching individuals' privacy, but health concerns involving the emission of radiation from the machines should certainly be addressed.
I definitely find the idea of the scanners taking nude images disturbing. I didn't know that they did that, and it really shows how ridiculously much security there is at airports. It's good to make airplanes safe, but sometimes I feel like the government just uses airplanes and terrorism to hype things up and maybe get some popularity and pass laws that make them feel like they're getting stuff done. For example, passing the USA Patriot Act that Samantha mentioned. When people are all worked up, I guess they don't really care about their privacy. I'm somewhat appalled that the security scanners take naked pictures of us. I think replacing them with generic avatars is much better.
I feel like the reasoning behind implementing these machines was good--in theory, they would make searches more thorough and in turn, airports would become more safe. However, I think that the machines themselves are completely inappropriate and do more harm than good, especially considering that even without them, getting through airport security can be a time consuming hassle. No one wants to end up on a plane with a dangerously unstable individual, let alone a dangerously unstable individual with a gun, but there are better ways to keep terminals safe that are less creepy and inefficient. Making no effort to hide my bias here, but as a minor who has had to travel alone and deal with TSA agents/these kinds of security measures, I do not appreciate being made to feel like a criminal.
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