The Obama administration says it's moving quickly to shift to new technology at airports using full body scanners, so that they produce a less explicit image. Also, see one woman's nightmare trip on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. NBC's Pete Williams reports.
By Joy Jernigan, senior travel editor
The?House Subcommittee on Transportation Security on Wednesday?unanimously approved an?amendment to the annual TSA Authorization Act of 2011 that would?put an end to?"naked" full-body?images currently?produced by Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) machines at U.S. airports.
The scanners, which were first?deployed?at U.S. airports beginning in 2007, have been widely criticized, with privacy advocates arguing the images are too revealing.
Under the amendment, introduced by Rep. Chip Craavack (R-Minn.), a former airline pilot, the?Transportation Security Administration?would have 90 days to install automated target recognition?software on all AIT machines. The new software produces a generic, stick figure outline of a person being screened rather than a detailed, passenger-specific image. If a traveler has a suspicious item on their body, it shows up as a red box on a?specific area of a stick figure outline.
Courtesy TSA
Any potential threat items that are detected are indicated on a generic outline of a person.
Courtesy TSA
If no potential threat items are detected, an "OK" appears on the monitor with no outline.
"This amendment will protect Americans' dignity and ensure, to the extent an AIT machine can, our nation's transportation infrastructure remains secure," said Rep. Cravaack.?
The TSA already has been moving in this direction. In July, the TSA announced plans to install the?new software on all existing millimeter-wave scanners, which use electromagnetic waves to produce an image of the body, in the coming months.
Of the 488 full-body scanners currently in airports nationwide, 241 are millimeter-wave and 247 are backscatter, which use low-level radiation beams to create an image of the body. The 241 millimeter-wave machines will be fully upgraded in coming weeks, and TSA plans to begin testing a software upgrade to the backscatter machines this fall, said TSA spokesman Greg Soule.
On Sept. 7, TSA also announced?$44.8 million for the purchase of 300 additional millimeter-wave?scanners?to be installed at airports nationwide.?The new?machines will be deployed with the new software, which is designed to enhance passenger privacy.
Soule said?the TSA?would not comment on pending legislation.
The subcommittee falls under the House Committee on Homeland Security. It is still unclear?whether the amendment will become law, as the act must first pass the House and the Senate and be signed by President Barack Obama.
Related stories
Joy Jernigan is a senior travel editor for msnbc.com. Follow her on Twitter.
?
Source: http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/09/14/7762175-naked-scanners-may-soon-be-on-the-way-out
baku wisconsin badgers football wisconsin badgers football ifa aim doha love story
No comments:
Post a Comment