New airport body scanners spark privacy debate

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New airport body scanners spark privacy debate

Australia, October 16, 2008 -- The Government has defended controversial new airport body scanners as safe, but prominent civil libertarian Terry O'Gorman says the technology is an invasion of privacy.

A new millimetre wave radio frequency body scanner is being trialed at three major Australian airports. It does not use X-rays, but it does have "X-ray vision".

Using this technology, security officers can detect metal and plastic weapons and also they can see through your clothes.

The Government says it is very safe, but it is still controversial.

Mr O'Gorman, who heads the Council for Civil Liberties, says the technology is a "total invasion of privacy", allowing virtual strip searches and has overstepped the mark.

"You have to ask yourself: Has the war against terrorism got to the stage where we, in effect, have to have our genitals shown, viewed by someone in another room, in the name of airport safety? We say this goes too far," he said.

"We say it skews the balance between proper security on the one hand and the maintenance of basic civil liberties, particularly bodily privacy, on the other.

"These virtual scanners will show women who've had breast enlargements, breast implants, or show women who have colostomy inserts, will show women who have had mastectomies.

"And we can switch it to men - it will show men who have had penile implants."

But the Government says this will not be allowed when the technology is used with the public.

"No images will be stored," the Office of Transport Security's Andrew Tongue said.

"Anybody but the person viewing the image is remote from where the person will be going through the body scanning, so they can't link in any way a person and their image.

"Faces are blurred, so we've tried to build a system that is very protective of people's privacy. And anybody participating in the trial is a volunteer."

Carden Calder runs a financial services communications company and flies regularly for work.

She's not thrilled at the prospects of airport security staff being able to see her virtually naked.

"I know my colleagues really don't like the prospect at all. I've talked to a few people about it, all of whom feel it is quite an invasion," she said.

"It's a big step up from what you go through today. Having just been through four airports on an international trip, every single one of them is a different process, all of them are a pain, but I also accept that they're all a necessary pain.

"So to me it's all about, how are we so much safer because this is happening. I really want to know why [this new technology] makes us safer."

As the head of the aviation department at the University of New South Wales, Professor Jason Middleton keeps a close eye on developments in airport security.

He says terrorists are innovative and aviation security has to stay one step ahead wherever it can. And in this day and age, that means more invasive checks before getting on a plane.

"The only true way to check people is by having these full body X-rays. I'm afraid they're here to stay because there is no other option," he said.

So is it a breach of privacy that we just have to accept?

"I don't see how we cannot accept it. The fact that the one's private body parts are seen is unfortunate, but terrorists are not going to worry about where they carry explosives and if they need to carry them in those sorts of private parts in order to blow things up they'll do it," Professor Middleton said.

But there are other new technologies that are far less intrusive and have positive spin-offs.

One is been developed after UK authorities foiled a terrorist plot to use liquid explosives two years ago.

A new bottle scanner can detect a variety of dangerous liquids, aerosols and gels and could one day lead to a loosening up of those annoying liquid restrictions.

"I certainly would hope it would enable us to look at the liquid, aerosols and gels regime in concert with our international counterparts and over time see if we could minimise its impact on travellers," Mr Tongue said.

"If we're rolling out new technology and there is a bit of a trade off involved then we can guarantee that we've got a better security outcome."

There is a new 3D X-ray machine to look for bombs in carry on luggage.

Whether the passengers like it or not, the trends at airports around the world is to test and adopt new technology like the body scanner. And Australian airports will be under pressure to meet international standards.

Just 20 years ago the full body scan was Hollywood's view of the future. But what was science fiction has become science fact, and is coming to an airport near you.

"If my chances of arriving at a destination are much greater if I put up with that inconvenience, I guess I'd like to arrive alive even if my privacy's been slightly invaded," Professor Middleton said.

But Mr O'Gorman fears the new technology will have far-reaching implications.

"You can bet once it's introduced at airports there will then be calls for it to be introduced at sporting stadiums, there will then be calls for it to be introduced at public malls to deal with teenagers carrying knives, etc.," he said.

"It will not stop at airports."

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Genitals, breasts not obscured in airport security trial

October 15, 2008 -- Airport authorities have confirmed that images of travellers' breasts and genitals will not be obscured during a trial of a high-tech scanner.

For the next six weeks domestic travellers at Melbourne Airport will have the option to go through the airport's new "virtual strip search" which can see through clothing and show peoples' private parts.

George Brenan, Acting Executive Director of the Office of Transport Security, told the Herald Sun Online none of the "chalk outline" images from the X-ray Backscatter would invade people's privacy because there would be "a woman looking at the scans of women and a man looking at the scans of men".

Mr Brenan said faces would be blurred and the screen monitors would be seated away from the passenger line and unable to compare faces to bodies.

But he said that genitals and breasts would not be blurred because it compromised the machine's detection capabilities.

"It's not an image people would find invasive," he said.

"There's a barrier between the people who see the scanned images and the passengers so that no-one can compare.

"There's two screen set up in the screening room, and the person who's directing the passenger through the machine indicates to the screening room whether its a male or female person.

"They're set up separately...They're next to each other but they can't see each other's screen."

Mr Brenan said employees will not be allowed to take camera phones or any other type of photographic equipment into the monitoring room.

"It's not possible to save an image or get it out of the machine, it's physically not possible," he said.

Because the machine cannot save images, it could not be used as evidence in a police investigation or court case, Mr Brenan said.

"The same way you can't actually keep the beep from the metal archway when you walk through, we don't need to keep the image either because it's all about stopping it happening in the first place," he said.

Further trials in Sydney and Adelaide airports will start next week.

Mr Brenan said the scanners were optional and passengers would not be forced to go under the machines.

"If the normal metal detector goes off people have choice between the traditional mechanism which is a frisk and going over with a hand wand... or alternatively you can go through the backscatter machine," Mr Brenan said.

The backscatter is a low-energy x-ray that reflects off the skin to give a "chalk outline" of the person's body.

Mr Brenan said it would take 1000 scans of the backscatter to reach the same level of radiation as a medical x-ray, and 10,000 scans to reach the maximum level of safe radiation recommended in a year.

The machines will be trialled alongside the 'Rapiscan secure 1000', a baggage x-ray machine that can detect explosives in luggage.

Mr Brenan denied the new technology is a direct response to an alleged UK terror plot in 2006.

"It's not a response... It's really just moving with technology," he said.

Mr Brenan said the new machines were a "reaction to a trend and how we protect the Australian public from developing capabilities".

Recent tests of the machines were carried out by the Australian Nuclear Science Technology Organisation and the Defence Science and Technology Organisation.

Mr Brenan said the trial was assessing what impact the machines could have on the flow of passengers going through the security point.

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Europe eyes airport X-ray vision

October 21, 2008 -- As if queuing for ages, emptying pockets and taking off shoes at the airport was not enough - now there are fears images of European airline passengers will be flashing up on a computer screen in all their glory - minus their clothes.

The European Commission insists the proposals are at an early stage and would not be mandatory.

But there are nonetheless concerns among some in the European Parliament about the effect the scanners could have on human rights, data protection and personal dignity.

The images, while not quite of photo quality, do not leave much to the imagination.

For most people, airport security staff would likely get to know you rather better than you might like.

"This measure is unnecessary, unjustified and invasive," said Irish Sinn Fein MEP Bairbre de Brun.

"The commission has brought forward this plan without assessing the impact on fundamental rights or human health or even if they are cost-efficient. This is an ill-conceived plan."

The European Commission says it is precisely its role to ensure the scanners are not unnecessarily invasive - by drawing up a rule book for how the devices, which are already used in a limited capacity by some airports, must be operated.

Where the technology is currently available, air security officials can pick out individuals to stand in a booth while three pictures are taken of the person in slightly different positions.

Within seconds, an X-ray scanner produces an image of the body.

What shows up is the naked human form and anything that may be concealed, such as coins, a gun or drugs.

A European Commission spokesman told the BBC that a wider roll-out of the technology would not only enhance safety and security, but would also have the potential to speed up the check-in process, as passengers would not need to be searched by security officials.

But concerns remain that the safeguards remain vague, and that MEPs have not been sufficiently consulted.

Philip Bradbourn, home affairs spokesman for the British Conservatives, says the scanners amount to a "virtual strip search" and are being rushed in.

"The European Commission is attempting to introduce these measures without consulting national governments or MEPs, and that is simply unacceptable given the considerable concerns," he said.

"There is a growing anxiety that the EU is seen as a tool for challenging basic liberties, without the usual scrutiny and accountability provided at the ballot box."

He and other critics acknowledge the potential security benefits, but insist that is not enough.

"I am against the idea of deciding one way or the other without a proper analysis of risks and eventual benefits from the point of view of health, privacy and security," Italian Liberal MEP Marco Cappato told the BBC.

"Tens of millions of people around European airports would be digitally photographed, almost as if there were naked."

Step forward Antonio Tajani, Europe's transport commissioner.

He is attempting to persuade MEPs this is not being rushed through, will not happen in every airport anytime soon, and the necessary safeguards will be a priority.

But for many MEPs, he has plenty of convincing to do.

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Manchester airport trials naked-image security scans

October 13, 2009 -- Originally, passengers had to remove their jackets when passing through airport security. Then it was belts, and soon shoes had to come off too. But those who feared that losing one's trousers was the next logical step will find scant comfort in the news that an x-ray machine that produces "naked" images of passengers will be introduced at a British international airport today. As well as enabling staff to instantly spot any hidden weapons or explosives, the full-body scanner being trialled at Manchester airport will leave little to the imagination of airport security staff. It will reveal a clear outline of passengers genitalia, as well as any false limbs, breast enlargements or body piercings. Travellers can refuse to undergo the virtual strip at Terminal 2 and choose a traditional "pat down" search instead, according to the airport, which admits that some travellers may feel uncomfortable about using the new technology.

The scan's black and white image will be seen by one officer in a remote location before it is deleted, said Sarah Barrett, head of customer experience at the airport. "Most of our customers do not like the traditional 'pat down' search, they find it too intrusive, but they still want to be kept safe. This scanner completely takes away the hassle of needing to undress. The images are not erotic or pornographic and they cannot be stored or captured in any way," she said. As passengers will not have to remove their coats, shoes or belts, the scanner will – in theory – speed up the check-in process. Frequent flyers will not be at risk from the low-level radiation, which is 20,000 times less powerful than a dental x-ray, Barrett said. "Passengers can go through this machine 5,000 times a year each without worrying, it is super safe and the amount of radiation transmitted is tiny," she said.

The scanners, made by the firm RapiScan Systems at a cost of £80,000 each, were trialled at Heathrow airport in 2004. The Department for Transport will decide whether to install them permanently at the end of the trial, which is expected to last for a year. Electromagnetic waves are beamed on to passengers while they stand in a booth, and a virtual three-dimensional "naked" image is created from the reflected energy. Security officials in the U.S. have pioneered the use of the scanners at New York and Los Angeles airports and they are gradually being introduced at other airports in the country.

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Racial or religious groups could be picked out for hi-tech airport checks

January 1, 2010 -- The government could allow hi-tech security searches at British airports that focus on people who fit a particular profile, prompting fears that particular racial and religious groups will face increased scrutiny, it emerged today. A Whitehall source told the Guardian passenger profiling was "in the mix" of the review into airport security ordered this week by Gordon Brown after the failed attempt to blow up a transatlantic jet on Christmas Day. The development came as airline industry chiefs warned it would be impossible to screen all travellers with a new generation of body scanners the government now wants introduced at airports.

Airport industry executives warn the scanners are currently too big, slow and expensive to make their widespread installation viable. Costing around £100,000 each, they take up much more space than the arch metal detectors currently in use and require longer to check every passenger. Many in the industry have long called for the profiling of passengers to detect potential terrorists. But while it is claimed spotters would primarily be watching for suspicious behaviour, there are fears travellers will be selected for enhanced checks based on race, religion and ethnicity. "They would be looking for people who are acting differently from regular passengers. However, it is going to appear to target a particular group of people because sadly it is that group of people that is presenting the problem at the moment," said Norman Shanks, a former head of security at BAA, the UK's largest airport operator. The Airport Operators Association (AOA) and BAA, the UK's largest airport operator, support passenger profiling. "We would like to see a combination of technology, intelligence and passenger profiling," a BAA spokesman said. Shanks said a successful profiling system should train airline check-in staff and other people working at airports how to spot unusual behaviour. The exact criteria used to produce a passenger profile is secret but could also include factors such as how a ticket was bought, whether the passenger had check-in luggage, as well as the person's behaviour.

The director of Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti, warned against an overreaction to the latest security alert. "We all take our security seriously but we need to learn the lessons of the recent past. Any response to terrorism has to be proportionate and respectful of the human rights values of dignity, privacy and liberty that governments on both sides of the Atlantic have been all too easily tempted to ignore." The Labour MP Khalid Mahmood said he would encourage the Muslim community to accept profiling. "I think people would rather be profiled than blown up. It wouldn't be victimisation. I think people will understand that it is only through something like profiling that there will be some kind of safety," he said. "Certainly some people will be aggrieved but the fact is that the majority of people who carry out these terror attacks do happen to be Muslims."

As Brown announced a security summit would be held this month in London, it became clear ministers are ready to authorise the use of full body scanners whatever the conclusion of a European review of such systems next week. The scanners, which can see under people's clothing, could have spotted explosives strapped to the body of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab when he boarded a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day. Officials at the Department for Transport had said the EU ruling on whether the scanners violated people's privacy was necessary before they could be used in Britain but now sources have said the government inquiry – due to wind up in the next few days – is likely to give the go-ahead for the scanners "with or without European cooperation". But concerns remain about the cost and practicality of introducing them. "It is all right if you are planning a new terminal but you cannot change the design of an airport [to fit them in]. UK airports are already full to capacity to accommodate passengers at peak times of the year," said Ed Anderson, AOA executive chairman. Senior BAA staff are understood to have reservations about the readiness of full body scanning technology. Brown said today the security summit would discuss methods of countering radicalisation in Yemen. It will be held on 28 January alongside the conference on the future of Afghanistan. Abdulmutallab is believed to have developed radical Islamist views during visits to Yemen.

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New scanners break child porn laws

January 4, 2010 -- The rapid introduction of full body scanners at British airports threatens to breach child protection laws which ban the creation of indecent images of children, the Guardian has learned. Privacy campaigners claim the images created by the machines are so graphic they amount to "virtual strip-searching" and have called for safeguards to protect the privacy of passengers involved. Ministers now face having to exempt under 18s from the scans or face the delays of introducing new legislation to ensure airport security staff do not commit offences under child pornography laws. They also face demands from civil liberties groups for safeguards to ensure that images from the £80,000 scanners, including those of celebrities, do not end up on the internet. The Department for Transport confirmed that the "child porn" problem was among the "legal and operational issues" now under discussion in Whitehall after Gordon Brown's announcement on Sunday that he wanted to see their "gradual" introduction at British airports.

A 12-month trial at Manchester airport of scanners which reveal naked images of passengers including their genitalia and breast enlargements, only went ahead last month after under-18s were exempted. The decision followed a warning from Terri Dowty, of Action for Rights of Children, that the scanners could breach the Protection of Children Act 1978, under which it is illegal to create an indecent image or a "pseudo-image" of a child. Dowty told the Guardian she raised concerns with the Metropolitan police five years ago over plans to use similar scanners in an anti-knife campaign, and when the Department for Transport began a similar trial in 2006 on the Heathrow Express rail service from Paddington station. "They do not have the legal power to use full body scanners in this way," said Dowty, adding there was an exemption in the 1978 law to cover the "prevention and detection of crime" but the purpose had to be more specific than the "trawling exercise" now being considered.

A Manchester airport spokesman said their trial had started in December, but only with passengers over 18 until the legal situation with children was clarified. So far 500 people have taken part on a voluntary basis with positive feedback from nearly all those involved. Passengers also pass through a metal detector before they can board their plane. Airport officials say the scanner image is only seen by a single security officer in a remote location before it is deleted. A Department for Transport spokesman said: "We understand the concerns expressed about privacy in relation to the deployment of body scanners. It is vital staff are properly trained and we are developing a code of practice to ensure these concerns are properly taken into account. Existing safeguards also mean those operating scanners are separated from the device, so unable to see the person to whom the image relates, and these anonymous images are deleted immediately."

But Shami Chakrabarti, of Liberty, had concerns over the "instant" introduction of scanners: "Where are the government assurances that electronic strip-searching is to be used in a lawful and proportionate and sensitive manner based on rational criteria rather than racial or religious bias?" she said. Her concerns were echoed by Simon Davies of Privacy International who said he was sceptical of the privacy safeguards being used in the United States. Although the American system insists on the deletion of the images, he believed scans of celebrities or of people with unusual or freakish body profiles would prove an "irresistible pull" for some employees.

The disclosures came as Downing Street insisted British intelligence information that the Detroit plane suspect tried to contact radical Islamists while a student in London was passed on to the U.S. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's name was included in a dossier of people believed to have made attempts to deal with extremists, but he was not singled out as a particular risk, Brown's spokesman said. President Barack Obama has criticised U.S. intelligence agencies for failing to piece together information about the 23-year-old that should have stopped him boarding the flight. Brown's spokesman said "There was security information about this individual's activities and that was shared with the U.S. authorities."

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How modern airport security may run afoul of Jewish law

January 13, 2010 -- Observant Jews are voicing concerns over modesty and looking for compromise on the Transportation Security Administration’s plan to expand the use of whole-body imaging machines for airport security, after last month’s failed attempt to bomb a Detroit-bound jetliner. Leaders in both Conservative and Orthodox communities are debating how scanners with the ability to see through clothing intersect with Jewish laws of tzniut, or modesty, which are observed differently among denominations but generally require Jews to cover their bodies. “It creates a tension between the Jewish value of protecting lives, which is very strong, and the Jewish value of modesty for women and for men,” said David Rosenn, a Conservative rabbi and the executive director of Avodah, a Jewish service program. The full-body scanners actually come in two varieties, each using a different type of technology. Millimeter wave scanners use radio frequency beams to create a 3-D image of the body. Backscatter X-rays use small amounts of radiation to create 2-D images of each side of the body. Both result in sketchy digital representations of the naked body of the person being scanned, allowing screeners to see items concealed under clothing. There are currently 74 full-body scanning machines in operation at American airports. The TSA, which oversees airport security throughout the country, recently announced that 150 more backscatter X-rays will be put to use early this year. According to the TSA’s Web site, images from the backscatter X-rays are processed through an algorithm meant to protect the privacy of the passenger. The images are viewed by TSA officers who sit at terminals behind closed doors and have no personal interaction with the people being scanned. “They’re just spending 10 seconds or so looking at the image to make sure there aren’t any concealed threat items,” said Ann Davis, a spokeswoman for the TSA. “Then the image gets deleted.” Davis said that the officers reviewing the scan would not necessarily be the same gender as the individual being scanned.

Conservative and Orthodox rabbis have voiced concern over the scanners, and in some cases they’ve requested compromises to ensure that their modesty concerns are met. Last June, the Washington office of Agudath Israel, which represents traditional American Orthodox communities, sent a letter to a Senate subcommittee reviewing a TSA-related bill, promoting an amendment to the House version of the bill that limited the use of the full-body scanners to situations in which passengers had already failed a metal detector test, and which would require that those passengers be offered the option of a pat-down search. “As an organization that represents observant Jews, Agudath Israel finds [full-body imaging] to be offensive, demeaning, and far short of acceptable norms of modesty under the laws and practices of Judaism and many faith communities,” the letter read. Abba Cohen, the rabbi who directs Agudath Israel’s Washington office, said in an interview that it is important that the full-body scans be adopted with care, if they are adopted at all. “In the rush to move to full-body scans, there hasn’t been any kind of process of determining under what circumstances these scans could and should be used,” Cohen said. Still, Avi Shafran, a spokesman for Agudath Israel, made it clear that his organization saw room for compromise. “Orthodox Jewish men and women go to doctors,” Shafran said. “Because it’s a professional environment, and that person is doing this because of his job, what would be a violation of modesty in one circumstance is not in a medical circumstance. That could be utilized here.” Other rabbis emphasized the importance of the Jewish principle of pikuach nefesh, or the saving of human life. “We have a responsibility to make sure that we are protected and to guarantee our physical security, or else our capacity to serve as ambassadors of God in this world is impossible,” said Kenneth Brander, dean of Yeshiva University’s Center for the Jewish Future. “That being said… the same way that if someone can save oneself on the Sabbath without violating the Sabbath, one does so, if we can figure out ways so that [the full-body scanner] not only blocks out the face, but perhaps certain private parts are shaded in ways that do not compromise security but protect modesty, I think that’s something we should [support].”

The scanners have raised concerns outside the American Jewish community, as well. In early January, a group of European rabbis issued a press release voicing distress over the scanners. And in the United States, American Muslim groups have said that the scans may violate their religion’s standards of modesty. “The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said every faith has an intrinsic character, and the intrinsic character of Islam is modesty,” said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which is a Washington-based civil rights and advocacy group. “We have specific requirements for what can be exposed of the body, both for men and women, and needless to say, having a nude image displayed on a screen is not something we appreciate in religious terms.” Hooper said that it was important to his organization that the full-body scans remain one option. “I think in the Muslim community it’s one topic of discussion,” he said. “People are deciding what they are going to do. Am I going to cut down on my traveling? Am I going to grit my teeth and go through it? Am I going to object? And then if I object, what’s going to happen?” According to Mary Boys, a professor at Union Theological Seminary, the body scanners don’t seem to have raised widespread concerns among Christians. “I don’t see that this is going to come up as a theological issue among a lot of Christian groups,” Boys said.