TSA Starts Testing New Scanners That Don't Show Your Naked Body

from the well,-that's-a-start dept

Despite all the protests from the TSA that there was nothing (nothing!) wrong with requiring everyone to display their naked body or be groped by TSA employees in order to board an airplane, it appears that even TSA officials are recognizing that the nudie scanners may have gone a bit too far. The TSA is now testing new screening machines that display a generic body outline, rather than showing a person’s actual body. Of course, there’s no word on if the TSA will similarly mislead the public about the safety (or lack of safety) in these new machines. Also, there’s no indication if these new machines will be as easily defeated as the old ones.

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Comments on “TSA Starts Testing New Scanners That Don't Show Your Naked Body”

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16 Comments
weneedhelp (profile) says:

New scanners?

But TSA is now testing new software that will only generate a generic outline of a person. Threatening items will be marked on the outline.

While eliminating body images will likely address the concerns of privacy and civil liberties groups, some critics still worry that the machines give off unsafe levels of radiation. TSA argues that the radiation levels are not harmful.

Appears to be the same machines with “new” software.
File> Properties> Show boobies.

I would love to see the options of an elevated account.

Anonymous Coward says:

So, if the people upset about the potential privacy violations of the naked scanners are just a bunch of whiners like the TSA says, and the scanners aren’t invasive, then why are they suddenly developing NEW scanners that don’t display you naked?

Seems like an admission that the head of the TSA is a lying sack of shit, doesn’t it?

jilocasin (profile) says:

Just more TSA lies and misdirection

As it’s been mentioned elsewhere and alluded to in previous posting here, this is all just ‘smoke & mirrors’.

The machines are the _same_. _Same_ privacy invading tech, _same_ potential health concerns, _same_ waste of tax dollars with this ineffectual system.

The new software purportedly ‘displays’ the results on a generic outline. It still _records_ and _stores_ (remember when the TSA was/is telling everyone that none of the images are capable of being stored?) the original image in all it’s privacy invading glory.

Oh, and just to add insult to injury, the TSA is requiring new scanners to not only have large storage capacity, but high speed network links.

Now, if the scanners just display images draped a generic outline (you can dump most of the image right there) and they _never_ store any images, just what would large hard drives and fast network links be used for? It couldn’t possibly be for storing large detailed privacy invading images of people and quickly transferring them to ‘somewhere safe’ (from subpoena and embarrassing, to the TSA at least, disclosures) now could it?

I mean this is the TSA, they would _never_ lie to the public, right?

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