Wow.This is not a joke! The US Transportation Security Agency has already installed a machine in the Phoenix airport that literally sees through 100% of your clothes down to your bare skin and can display high resolution images of you in all your naked glory.
Assuming that all goes well with the initial run of the backscatter at Sky Harbor, similar technologies will be introduced to a number of other major U.S. airports early in 2007.
Below are two images taken from these machines. This first one gives you a little taste of what the machine can do, though it’s much more detailed than this image illustrates.
The second one is what their “privacy software” is supposed to actually display in the airports. Remember though, it’s going to be MUCH more detailed than this tiny little sample and will likely be viewed on a 20″-42″ LCD or Plasma screen monitor.
In both cases they are severely under-detailing the images to the public.
The TSA claims that the screeners standing in front of you won’t be able to see the image, and that the people doing the screening will be in a private room out of view.
And although they claim that the officer sitting in front of the screen can’t save or print the image (Yeah, they don’t own camera phones to snap the good ones for their private collections?) you can rest assured that the TSA will be saving every image screened in all your digital nudeness!
Their exact wording is:
The capability of printing, storing or transmitting the image is not available to the Transportation Security Officer operating the system.
The bottom line here is, the TSA is going to save 100% of the unfiltered images of your scanned naked body. I guarantee that right now someone is sitting around figuring out how to match those scans to the identities of their owners – if they haven’t already. It’s really not that hard to do, especially for routine travelers. They just cross reference your flights with the body scans within 2 hours and they’ll have you digitally mapped down to the mole in CIA computers in no time.
The only saving grace – at this moment – is that you have an option NOT to submit to one of these scans. You can choose to do it the old fashioned way instead, so I would advise people to go that route every time.
- Here is the TSA’s web page on Backscatter.
- Here is the TSA’s contractor’s page on Backscatter.
- Here is EPIC’s page on Backscatter. (By far the most comprehensive.)
- Here is an article on TechFreep.com.
John P. says
August 21, 2007 at 1:47 amKeep in mind Roger that you are allowed to refuse to submit to this type of scan, in which case they just have to do the search manually…. But I certainly understand if you don’t want to travel to Phoenix on principle.
John
Roger says
August 21, 2007 at 1:14 amThis is another example of particular rights violation in this country. I´m not agree at all with this kind of tecnology uses. Nobody, and I repeat, NOBODY has the right to invade the privacy of a person without his authorization. I think is a violation of the law. And I´m not going to travel to Pheonix in my life.
Glen Reid says
December 14, 2006 at 3:32 pmthis is another example of taking advantage of the general public because of a select group of micreants.