Virtual Strip Search
June 21, 2008Uhhh, no, not today thanks. It’s looking a bit too close to the mammogram position for me:
The airport in Kelowna, B.C., will be the first in Canada to test a new type of passenger scanner that creates a three-dimensional image of people’s bodies.
The new body imager unveiled on Thursday uses high frequency electromagnetic waves known as millimetre waves to create a detailed 3-D image of what a person looks like underneath their clothes.
The security guard operating the machine only sees a simplified image on a computer screen that indicates where ceramic weapons and plastic explosives or other suspicious items might be concealed.
But in a separate, private room, another officer sees the full detailed black and white image of the person’s body.
To be scanned, a passenger simply steps inside a glass pod the size of a large phone booth and puts up his arms above his head.
“The paddles rotate around the body. The radio frequency penetrates the clothing … bounces off the skin and gives … a 3-D holographic image of the body,” said Ian McNaugton, the National Sales Manager for L3 Communications, which makes the machines.
If any suspicious items are identified, the passenger is then checked with a conventional security pat down, McNaughton said.
Ron McAdam, who manages technology and testing for the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, spent months working with Canada’s privacy commissioner to make sure the scanner complies with privacy rules.
“The images themselves are not saved…. They are deleted immediately once the passenger is cleared,” said McAdam, who added that the security guard who sees the detailed image never sees the actual passenger.
In addition, passengers don’t have to use the machine, McAdam said. If they have concerns, they can use regular screening lines instead.
