Airport 'naked' scanners a go
Published Saturday October 31st, 2009
OTTAWA - Airport scanners that can see through your clothes have received the blessing of Canada's privacy czar.
Chantal Bernier, the assistant federal privacy commissioner, said yesterday that the national air security agency has successfully answered her office's questions about the machines, which will only be used in limited circumstances.
The system, tested in British Columbia at the Kelowna airport, allows a screening officer to see whether someone is carrying plastic explosives or other dangerous items.
The proposal has stirred controversy because the scanner produces a three-dimensional outline of a person's naked body.
"It is a very touchy issue, and we have addressed it with exactly that level of care," Bernier told a gathering of security officials and academics.
Under the plan approved by the privacy chief, the officer would view the image in a separate room and never see the actual traveller.
Only people singled out for extra screening would be scanned, and then they would have the option of getting a physical pat-down instead.
Bernier said the holographic image generated by the scanner makes it difficult to identify the traveller's face.
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i do not believe that our technology is at a point yet where we could actually see true human skin
i could be wrong but somehow i doubt it
the article says silhouette and somehow i believe that weird as it sounds
i will question how effective this can be as i suspect it is a best case extrapolation but i cant see this as a serious threat to privacy as long as perhaps if a rule is put in place that every technological advance on the viewing screen must be reviewed or something that limits the clarity of shot( ie black out skin to single colour no nipple or dangling parts viewable) and face should never be in frame
But they can't see the face, and if it keeps a suicide bomber from killing everyone on a plane, then it's a good thing - especially seeing the number of arrests in the past couple of weeks of people plotting terrorist activities. As Canada is a haven for these people, the least we can do is protect citizens & visitors from harm.