UK brings in full body scanners

[Dave Noble]

Full-body scanners will be introduced in Britain in the wake of the failed Christmas Day bombing attempt of a US airliner, Prime Minister Gordon Brown says.

Brown told the BBC on Sunday all airport security would be increased in Britain, and all passengers, even those transiting through the country, will have their hand luggage screened for traces of explosives.

Article at UK brings in full body scanners

 

[anat0l]

If you have a full body scanner in place, does that mean you still need to empty your pockets of metal objects?

Or perhaps just electronic devices (e.g. cameras, phones, etc. a la separate screening for laptops), but you can leave other simple devices in your pockets (e.g. coins, keys, pens).

I think in the Philippines everyone gets a pat down search. Probably not done in any of the mentioned airports due to time limitations and possibly due to human rights activists / civil libertarians would be making noise about it.

 

[drewbles]

If you have a full body scanner in place, does that mean you still need to empty your pockets of metal objects?

Or perhaps just electronic devices (e.g. cameras, phones, etc. a la separate screening for laptops), but you can leave other simple devices in your pockets (e.g. coins, keys, pens).

I think in the Philippines everyone gets a pat down search. Probably not done in any of the mentioned airports due to time limitations and possibly due to human rights activists / civil libertarians would be making noise about it.

My friends used the full body scanners in SFO earlier in the year and they just put most stuff into the trays (keys/wallets etc) but didn't have to remove belts/shoes/other things. I guess it's common sense. As you say, simple things should be fine, others in the trays

 

[notzac]

*rant mode on*

The big problem with the full body scanners is the damn civil libertarians that screamed bloody murder when they were introduced in the US and got so many roadblocks and checks-in-triplicate put in place that in practice, going through a full body scan takes two to three times as long as a metal detector scan does.

Really, who cares if some nameless individual who you've never met before and will probably never see again sees a vague outline of your bits?

Assuming that the technology works to accurately detect the bad guys, I'm absolutely for having full body scanners everywhere - but only if they can make the whole thing much much faster.



*rant mode off*

 

[anat0l]

The only real "concerns" I have about full body scanners are:

• What they can see. I assume it's a bit like going to the specialist for an x-ray, hence bones, objects in between, etc. It's not like those weird beer goggles or voyeur :!: type gizmos that you see on teenage frat boy movies So no biggie there.
• How much radiation exposure does one receive. I assume that it can't be seriously big, although I'm sure that risk modelling is hardly done on mileage runners :mrgreen: They would need to consider others that fly multiple flights almost daily, i.e. flight attendants, pilots.
• Like notzac mentioned, the process should make this security thing easier, not more complicated. I guess people will need to walk much slower through the machine (think how fast that conveyor belt moves in the object x-ray machines); given the average person, I think we're going to hit some brick walls of understanding there = not good for time and certainly not good for everyone's patience.

 

[tuapekastar]

The only real "concerns" I have about full body scanners are:

• What they can see. I assume it's a bit like going to the specialist for an x-ray, hence bones, objects in between, etc. It's not like those weird beer goggles or voyeur :!: type gizmos that you see on teenage frat boy movies So no biggie there.

I think you could have, err, phrased that better....:shock:

 

[anat0l]

I think you could have, err, phrased that better....:shock:

I....see :mrgreen: (no pun intended there, either)

 

[samh004]

I hardly see them as an issue, though as has been mentioned, it would be helpful if it was a bit quicker.

And for those civil libertarians who seemingly don't live in the real world, they don't have to fly if they don't want to, and if they do want to, they should accept these scanners are needed!

My friends used the full body scanners in SFO earlier in the year and they just put most stuff into the trays (keys/wallets etc) but didn't have to remove belts/shoes/other things. I guess it's common sense. As you say, simple things should be fine, others in the trays

I generally get flak in Australian airports for putting my wallet in the tray. Apparently they don't want to take responsibility for what happens in the x-ray machine. Maybe they want me to smuggle something in my wallet?

 

[significance]

The only real "concerns" I have about full body scanners are:

• What they can see. I assume it's a bit like going to the specialist for an x-ray, hence bones, objects in between, etc. It's not like those weird beer goggles or voyeur :!: type gizmos that you see on teenage frat boy movies So no biggie there.
• How much radiation exposure does one receive. I assume that it can't be seriously big

It isn't an x-ray, so what they see is the shape of your body under your clothes, plus whatever is in your pockets. They can't see bones or anything hidden in your pockets nor much of your face.

From my point of view, from what I've seen in articles about the scanners, they strike me as much less intrusive than a physical pat-down.

I normally leave loose change in my pockets going through metal detectors, and it has never set them off. I imagine though, that with a scanner, they'd see it and ask me to empty my pockets.

 

[Maca44]

I really welcome the scanners because being a 'very old' rugby player I now have two metal hips so I get the pat down every time I pass through security, but you get used to it. People look at you strangely sometimes when standing there being patted down with your arms at the horizontal, but that's life. With the new TSA security measures at least everyone else will be subjected to what I get under normal circumstances.

 

[oz_mark]

I generally get flak in Australian airports for putting my wallet in the tray. Apparently they don't want to take responsibility for what happens in the x-ray machine. Maybe they want me to smuggle something in my wallet?

Never been questioned or had a remark made about putting my wallet in the tray. Sometimes they give my keys an inspection, but that is about it.

(I did have one security person go nuts about carrying my boarding pass through the metal detector once, but suspect she was having a bad hair day)

 

[thewinchester]

I for one welcome our new technological overlords :mrgreen:

Seriously, I have no problems with full body scanners. The person looking at the scan can't see you and put faces to limp bits, and if it adds an extra and quick level of assurance then I'm all for it.

If only they'd get round to integrating full body scanners, metal detectors and explosive puffers, then you'd be able to do all those jobs at once and everything would be fine.

 

[drewbles]

I generally get flak in Australian airports for putting my wallet in the tray. Apparently they don't want to take responsibility for what happens in the x-ray machine. Maybe they want me to smuggle something in my wallet?

Haven't had that, but i've had TSA people say 'please carry your wallet through sir it's not necessary to put it on the tray' presumably as they don't want to assume responsibility either. I'd rather carry it to be honest. Losing a wallet is a pain.

I do tend to get my bag-tag on my laptop bag checked. It's a metal one in a semi-oval shape with the tag that flicks out with your details on it. They seem to keep thinking it's some kind of knife Picture Below:

 

[tuapekastar]

I generally get flak in Australian airports for putting my wallet in the tray. Apparently they don't want to take responsibility for what happens in the x-ray machine. Maybe they want me to smuggle something in my wallet?

I've had the opposite happen a couple of times in NZ (domestic flights)...they've insisted my wallet comes out of my pocket and into the tray. So now if I'm anywhere I suspect this is going to happen, I just empty everything from my pockets into my carry-on (assuming I have one) prior to security, then retrieve whatever I want after security. I have been known to leave things (keys, to be precise ) behind in trays before, so, I try to avoid using them.

On topic, I have no issue with the scanners referred to in this thread (in fact, if they really are better at detecting 'things', bring 'em on)!

 

[codash1099]

(I did have one security person go nuts about carrying my boarding pass through the metal detector once, but suspect she was having a bad hair day)

I wonder if the scanner would detect that :mrgreen:

 

[dajop]

. I'd rather carry it to be honest. Losing a wallet is a pain.

I feel the same way with passports, always carry through the scanner, rather than put on a tray. Once I got grief in a regional Chinese airport, as it a microchipped passport and set off both the detector and the hand wand, and they were struggling to work it out ...

 

[2muchplastic]

.....I generally get flak in Australian airports for putting my wallet in the tray. Apparently they don't want to take responsibility for what happens in the x-ray machine. Maybe they want me to smuggle something in my wallet?

I have the same problem, normally at Australian airports they will tell me to take my wallet back out of the tray, even though I know that it will set the detector off (2x HK octopus cards, work security card of the proximity type the usual normal culprits). Most of the time, I try and empty my pockets into my laptop rucksack.

At PVG a few weeks back, I'd forgotten to empty my pockets, walked through the detector and it buzzed, the female security person took one look at my wallet, declared "there is so much in it" and put it through the xray by itself!
Ok, so I hadn't spent as much in 3 weeks as I expected and had half of my RMB left, along with a few other currencies, and half a million receipts for expenses, so it was a little large.....

 

[NM]

Once at SIN at the gate security check I was asked to hand over my wallet and the security check agent opened and looked at the cards in my wallet. He wiped his finger across the edge of some of the cards in what appeared to be a check to see if they were sharp . I have only had this happen once.

 

[docjames]

/OT/Just put the wallet in the carryon bag instead of the tray.......

/OT/
I am not prepared to have the radiation exposure so will ask for the manual screen. I dont care who sees the film, so that's not an issue to me (they'll be seeing far more attractive bodies than mine every single day....) but until i'm certain of the radiation dose/effect, no thanks.

 

[significance]

I am not prepared to have the radiation exposure so will ask for the manual screen. I dont care who sees the film, so that's not an issue to me (they'll be seeing far more attractive bodies than mine every single day....) but until i'm certain of the radiation dose/effect, no thanks.

It isn't an x-ray. It's harmless. If you are worried about your radiation exposure, you should be more worried about your exposure during flights.

More info here:
How Much Radiation Or Radio Wave Exposure From Airport Body Scan? | WUSA9.com | Washington, DC |
and here:
Radiation Exposure During Commercial Airline Flights

Short version: they are probably using radio-waves rather than x-ray radiation. Even if they are using x-ray backscatter, the dose is only 3 microrem, compared with an average of 238 microrem that you receive from cosmic radiation during a flight.