Source: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20061201/D8LO1JLO2.html

Related: Railways test anti-terror systems - (X-ray screening and body
scanners are among technology being tested to boost security on the UK
rail network, Alistair Darling has said.) -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4434302.stm


Phoenix Airport to Test X-Ray Screening

AP
Friday, December 1, 2006

Sky Harbor International Airport here will test a new federal screening
system that takes X-rays of passenger's bodies to detect concealed
explosives and other weapons.

The technology, called backscatter, has been around for several years
but has not been widely used in the U.S. as an anti-terrorism tool
because of privacy concerns.

The Transportation Security Administration said it has found a way to
refine the machine's images so that the normally graphic pictures can be
blurred in certain areas while still being effective in detecting bombs
and other threats.

The agency is expected to provide more information about the technology
later this month but said one machine will be up and running at Sky
Harbor's Terminal 4 by Christmas.

The security agency's Web site indicates that the technology will be
used initially as a secondary screening measure, meaning that only those
passengers who first fail the standard screening process will be
directed to the X-ray area.

Even then, passengers will have the option of choosing the backscatter
or a traditional pat-down search.

A handful of other U.S. airports will have the X-rays machines in place
by early 2007 as part of a nationwide pilot program, TSA officials said.

The technology already is being used in prisons and by drug enforcement
agents, and has been tested at London's Heathrow Airport.

The security agency says the machines will be effective in helping
detect plastic or liquid explosives and other non-metallic weapons that
can be missed by standard metal detectors.

Some say the high-resolution images - which clearly depict the outline
of the passenger's body, plus anything attached to it, such as jewelry -
are too invasive.

But the TSA said the X-rays will be set up so that the image can be
viewed only by a security officer in a remote location. Other
passengers, and even the agent at the checkpoint, will not have access
to the picture.

In addition, the system will be configured so that the X-ray will be
deleted as soon as the individual steps away from the machine. It will
not be stored or available for printing or transmitting, agency
spokesman Nico Melendez said.

People know the risks of flying, and if they get offended by getting
x-rayed, SCREW EM!!! I'd rather be safe on a plane and hear someone
bitchin cause they cant smuggle some shit across state lines on a
freakin plane. I'd like to have the feeling that my plane aint gonna hit
the side of some building just cause some Taliban cracker wants to end
his shit!!!