A broad coalition of 30 privacy, civil rights and consumer organizations led by the Electronic Privacy Information Center sent a petition to the Department of Homeland Security today demanding that the agency's Transportation Security Administration suspend its airport body scanning program.
Use of the machines "effectively subjects all air travelers to unconstitutionally intrusive searches that are disproportionate and for which the TSA lacks any suspicion of wrongdoing," the groups wrote in the petition. "There are less intrusive and less costly techniques available to address the risk of concealed explosives on aircrafts."
According to the petition, the machines can capture, store, and transfer detailed, three-dimensional images of individuals’ naked bodies - an assertion that TSA has disputed.
The privacy groups charge that deploying the scanners for airport use violates the Constitution, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the Privacy Act of 1974, and the Administrative Procedures Act.
The petition cites complaints from passengers such as, “I was picked to go through the new body scanner machine … When I looked around, I noticed that there were only women who were ‘told’ to go through this machine, there were no men.”
The TSA recently announced plans to send 1,000 new body scanners to airports around the country.
The scanners are currently in use at airports in Albuquerque, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Atlanta, Baltimore, Denver, Dallas/Fort Worth, Detroit, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix, Raleigh-Durham, Richmond, Washington National, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Tampa, and Tulsa.
Big income comes from our taxes.
Posted by: Christopher Hinn | February 12, 2011 at 12:30 AM
Gordon Brown is a traitor to his country.
In Britain if you are asked to go through one of the scanners you must comply. If you refuse you will be barred from flying and your name will be kept on a list. Guilty before you fly. You are not given the opportunity to have a pat down. The terrorists have scarred the not properly elected Prime Minister (what a joke) in to forcing civilised human beings in to getting there naked bodies photo graphed and looked at in detail by anyone who is TRAINED. Have these perverts been vetted or are they on the sex offenders list. I bet all the Trained individuals are men. A Doctor is the only other man i would willingly let look at my wife’s naked body for medical reasons not some floor cleaner who applied for a job as pervert. Looking for bombs or staring at naked woman all day. What a job to have. Not having to pay for porn but also getting paid to look at it. I spoke to a friend at an airport and he told me that the images are kept for an hour before they are deleted. Just encase something happens on the plane they can then go back and have another look at the porn. So all this “the images aren’t stored in anyway and are deleted straight away” is complete rubbish! In order for myself and family to have a nice holiday in the sun I am expected to let my wife expose herself to a complete stranger. I didn’t marry a slag. Porn stars have a choice to get photo graphed, our wife’s and children don’t. Until these Skandalis machines are destroyed I am stuck in this country for a holiday. To drive to a hot country far away with a young family is unfair on them. The dignity of our loved ones has been thrown away just because of some mud hut dwellers go boo !!! The images you see are from the back ground scatter scanners not the fully disgusting Millimetre wave scanners which revel everything your body has to show. Even down to the size of your labia. Do you think Winston Churchill would have aloud his loved ones to expose there genitals to strangers just so they could go on holiday. Get some Genitals Brown. Don’t jump on the first band wagon that they say will stop terrorists. This last attack would still of happened even if he had gone through a scanner. I served in the Army for my family and friends protection. Now my Supposed Leader is making them strip in front of anyone deemed TRAINED. Disgusting behaviour from a supposed leader of men.
Bend over Britain all is lost.
PS.funny how the shares in these machines are on the up. Some one is making a lot of money out this.
Posted by: Derek | April 22, 2010 at 05:32 AM