Full-Body Scans vs. Invasion of Privacy

I found an interesting article on nytimes.com this afternoon covering a flaring dispute between privacy advocates and airport authorities over the use of full-body scans which use Backscatter X-Ray technology to produce full body images.


“I’m on an airplane every three or four days; I want that plane to be as safe and secure as possible,” Mr. Chaffetz said. However, he added, “I don’t think anybody needs to see my 8-year-old naked in order to secure that airplane.”

“Your agency will be capturing the naked photographs of millions of American air travelers suspected of no wrongdoing.”


These legitimate concerns for privacy prove a difficult obstacle for further investment into this new technology. Although I consider myself a privacy advocate, there are compelling arguments supporting the contrary.


"Depending on the specific technology used, faces might be obscured or bodies reduced to the equivalent of a chalk outline. Also, the person reviewing the images must be in a separate room and cannot see who is entering the scanner. The machines have been modified to make it impossible to store the images, Ms. Lee said, and the procedure “is always optional to all passengers.” Anyone who refuses to be scanned “will receive an equivalent screening”: a full pat-down."


Like the article points out, I think that it all boils down to how these technologies are used when concerned with privacy. We all want to feel safe on our airborne journeys, but at the same time we don't want to be physically or "visually" molested, and we surely don't want our detailed "ghostly photographs" to appear on the web!