April 21st, 2008 
admin 
A while ago I posted about Millimeter wave scanners. Well, it seems the airline industry has seen fit to start piloting those scanners to increase security. Oh, and it gives folks an option for not getting a pat down.
It’s kind of like something out of a science fiction movie. Scanners that can see through clothes and detect hidden threats and weapons. Here’s how it works:
- Beams of radio frequency (RF) energy in the millimeter wave spectrum are projected over the body’s surface at high speed from two antennas simultaneously as they rotate around the body
- The RF energy reflected back from the body or other objects on the body is used to construct a three-dimensional image
- The three-dimensional image of the body, with facial features blurred for privacy, is displayed on a remote monitor for analysis
Of course, people are decrying privacy issues on this technology. Here’s what they do to safeguard that:
Images will not be printed, stored or transmitted
To ensure privacy, the passenger imaging technology being tested by TSA has zero storage capability and images will not be printed stored or transmitted. Once the transportation security officer has viewed the image and resolved anomalies, the image is erased from the screen permanently. The officer is unable to print, export, store or transmit the image.
Screener viewing images is remotely located
In addition to not storing, printing or transmitting the image, the transportation security officer will be viewing the image on a stand-alone machine (vs. network) that is located in a remote area from the screening process. The image will not be visible to the public, and the viewing TSO will not be permitted to bring any camera into the viewing area. The transportation security officer attending to the passenger at the machine is unable to see the image being produced. Communications between the attending TSO and viewing TSO are accomplished by a red light/green light system.
Here’s a brief video on the systems:
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What if they stick something up their butt???
back to the drawing board
Oops: Backscatter x-ray machines “tear apart DNA”
I never thought i’d see the day when Americans would stand for this kind of invasion of privacy and health risk! The more incompetant and lazy Government acts the more people are willing to throw away their rights and liberties. This is embarrasing and brings great shame on every American who neglects their duty to protest this kind of degradation of democracy!
Not to mention the possible abuses this technology is open to! Do you want to have your wife and 14 year old daughter ogled by security perverts or photos of them ending up on the internet? How about nude photos of celebrities and politicians…
“the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.”
The waves have been found to “unzip double-stranded DNA, creating bubbles in the double strand that could significantly interfere with processes such as gene expression and DNA replication.”
Images will not be printed, stored or transmitted, To ensure privacy, the passenger imaging technology being tested by TSA has zero storage capability and images will not be printed stored or transmitted.
REALY, then whats the photo I see on this page, nobody could take a photo with a cell phone or digital camera , nobody could patch into it, bullshit, also I DONT CARE, IT’S A CLEAR AND UNCONSTITUTIONAL INVASION OF PRIVACY!
WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO MY COUNTRY? are we a bunch of cowards? we have more people dieing from LACK OF HEALTHCARE! lets do something about that…
Invasion of privacy. More waste of tax payers money. The government is going the wrong direction by throwing billions of dollars into air travel security systems which will eventually be pulled for some reason – like the bomb sniffing portals. The only means to combat terrorism before they get onto our planes is Racial Profiling. This means is the only true way of stopping someone with intent to do us harm.
Hey all.
Are there so many people that feel the need for speaking utter rubbish and to sit and negatively comment for the sake of it. What is happening and the need to implement the above is about things that is a reality. This is your, you, my, our children, parents, friends and everyone you know – their protection, would you much rather nothing be done, or the chance for a slip up with a possible threat when a seciruty gaurd is asleep or has a hangover. Stupid people
Having a scanner that takes invasive pictures of our bodies does not make us safer! If a terrorist wanted to attack they wouldn’t go through a body scanner, they go blow themselves up in a mall or football stadium. Do you want scanners to be in those places too! We are throwing our civil liberties away because of fear and at the same were inconveniencing and subjecting our fellow American citizens to potential widespread embarrassment. I am very disappointed with our congress for being so foolish. What we should be doing is educating and training our airport security staff to read body language and analyze people like they do in Israel.
Orson made a really smart comment about racial profiling. So, the “Christmas bomber” (Dec 2009) happened to be African. Do you want all African Americans to undergo scrutiny at the airport? I see you really though this through….