Loss of Privacy

Dubai International Airport has confirmed that they will not use full body scanners at the airport. They will, instead, use well-trained individuals to provide security screenings.

Brig Gen Thani said that international standards adopted by the airport in 2007 were already adequate to ensure passenger safety.

“Every airline has security procedures set by the international air travel association and their respective civil aviation authorities,” he said.

The brigadier general’s comments came at the start of a campaign by the Airport Security Department in conjunction with Dubai Airports to raise safety and security awareness among travellers this summer.

The campaign will involve 100 students and 250 Dubai airport staff. It aims to inform the public of security precautions, such as the limits on liquids allowed onboard, through the use of radio and television adverts, SMS messages and 50,000 flyers.

“Delays by passengers incur financial costs on airports, airlines and the general public. We would like the travel process to go smoother and safer for all members of the public,” Brig Gen al Thani said.

Dubai plans on taking a smart approach to security and not use unnecessary tools that do not aid in security measures.

From Democracy Now:

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has filed a lawsuit asking a federal judge to stop Transportation Security Administration’s full body scanning procedures by granting an immediate injunction. The full body scans are not mandatory for all travelers, but those who object are subject to “enhanced” pat-downs, extremely invasive manual checks. Civil rights activists argue these initiatives are inappropriate, ineffective, violate the Constitution, pose health concerns related to radiation exposure, and are insensitive to religious practices. We speak former Miss USA and actress Susie Castillo, who was recently subjected to an enhanced body pat-down and has become a vocal critic of such security procedures. We also speak with Ralph Nader and Amie Stepanovich of EPIC.

This is so despicable that I don’t even know what to say.

From the YouTube summary:

El Paso, Texas. – I didn’t know this lady, but I ended up going with her her to the bathroom and helping her get her money pinned back on her bra. To get her money back to where she wanted it, she had to take off both shirts and lower her bra straps. I know TSA had to see quite a bit of her.

I had told her earlier that she looked pretty and she said she had felt pretty when she left the house, but after the pat down she didn’t feel pretty anymore.

This elderly lady was made to remove her neck brace, get out of her wheelchair, go into a private room and partially disrobe after a body scan. She said she got two pat downs.

El Paso TSA makes everyone go through the body scanners.

A few months ago, the TSA agreed to test their full body scanners after anomalies appeared and public outcry raised concerns over the safety of the machines. Their new test results claim that the machines are safe and people shouldn’t worry about going through them.

“The latest reports confirm previous testing and show that every backscatter unit currently used for passenger screening in U.S. airports is operating well within applicable national safety standards,” said TSA spokesman Nicholas Kimball.

Test results released by TSA in March showed some anomalies, such as missing data or calculation errors unrelated to safety. The agency ordered new tests for the scanners as well as other X-ray equipment used to screen baggage that had problematic reports.

The machines cannot produce more than 0.005 millirem per scan, according to TSA. In comparison, a chest X-ray will expose someone to 10 millirem of radiation and the maximum recommended exposure to radiation from man-made sources is 100 millirem per year, according to TSA.

Any amount of x-rays is unsafe. To force people, illegally, to go through the scanners increases their health risk. The scanners are also an outright violation of the 4th amendment.

Regardless of any outcome of these tests, the fact remains that the TSA is doing tests on their own machines. There are no independent studies of the machines as of yet, so it is difficult to believe these results haven’t been skewed in some manner. The TSA cannot count their so-called independent studies because they were given a test machine that was cobbled together. It was given a set of parameters and then tested in those parameters. No independent study has ever been given a machine that is in use in the field, thus those studies are not valid.

Given the fact that the European Parliament voted last week 37-2 on strict measures for the full body scanners, including the right to opt out of them on health concerns, just how safe are these machines?

Worried about the impact on health and privacy, the committee said X-ray scanners “using ionising radiation should be prohibited in the EU” and that no body images should be produced.

The committee added that images “must be destroyed right after the person has passed through the security control and may not be stored.”
A final vote will be taken in June. Let’s hope the vote holds up and at least Europeans and travelers to Europe will be able to avoid these invasive and illegal machines.

As for the US, there should be a choice of full body scanner, metal detector, or regular pat down (not the groping you currently get). Passengers shouldn’t have to beg for an opt out and they shouldn’t be humiliated with invasive pat downs as retaliation for their personal concern and safety.