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TSA Agents No Longer Get To See You Naked

By Michelle Woo Thu., Jul. 21 2011 at 1:49 PM
Categories: Main
Thumbnail image for blueflyairport.jpg
Bluefly
​Soon, air travel will no longer require passengers to put on a virtual strip show.

The Transportation Security Administration announced that over the next few months, full-body scanners at airports nationwide will be upgraded with new software that eliminates "passenger-specific images" (read: X-rays of your junk). 

With this technology, to be installed on scanners with 
millimeter wave imaging technology (TSA will test similar software updates for backscatter machines in the fall), a simple "OK" will appear on the screen if travelers walk through the scanner and no suspicious items are detected. If something looks sketchy, TSA agents will see a generic body outline, along with a yellow mark indicating where the suspicious item is located. They will then perform additional screening. 

What TSA agents currently see:  

oldtsa.jpg
TSA
​What they'll see with the new software: 
newtsascanner.jpg
TSA
​The technology addresses privacy concerns, though skeptics say it does not eliminate them. TSA agents may still investigate with those with "anomalies"--adult diapers, prosthetic breasts, leg braces. (We could Google this stuff for days.) And some predict that the software could even lead to more groping pat-downs since agents now don't get to see the specific suspicious items on screen. Also, the move does not address the potential health risks of X-ray scanners.  

Ah, the traveler's headache continues. 

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MajorDoon
MajorDoon

But do they still cause cancer? I could give a damn less if some overpaid, under-educated "officer" wants to see my ding-dong. I don't want a tumor just because the government feels the need to put on a dog and pony show in the name of "security".

Doan Bugme
Doan Bugme

Now let's see here, We were told:

We were told the machines only give a vague outline --- lieWe were told they had no copy capability --- lieWe were told that images could not be transmitted --- lie

Now we're being told that the vague outlines is coming back.

Yeah right, now pull (not grope) the other leg!

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