public
concept, AIT presents virtual images of the human body in the name of security,
but terms of many personal passengers
protest that the technology doth invade too much in
Such machines, popularly referred to as “body scanners,” have provoked rigorous
controversy
centered on privacy factors, among other concerns. Per
their primary purpose, body scanners create on-screen images
of passengers that reveal objects hidden under clothing, such
as concealed weapons or other restricted items. However, the images also come with graphic outlines of the human body, including genitalia and breasts. Some opponents to the technology criticize these virtual strip searches as “pornographic,” but many airports stand behind the use of AIT to provide unprecedented visual access to threats that might lie beneath. To date, according to the TSA, many
major airports currently implement body scanners, including several located in the following Midwest states: • Illinois • Indiana • Michigan • Minnesota • Missouri • Nebraska • Ohio • Wisconsin What does this mean to you?
comfort.
with nightmares of airport exhibitionism. At a time when many travelers have been pushed to the limits of aviation frustration, popular prejudices against “invasive” screening practices might be just enough to convince some attendees to cry uncle and stay home. As a meeting planner, you might be wise to equip yourself with the information tools to dismantle your prospective attendees’ preconceived notions about the state of airport security.
After all, public outcry about full-body
Amid increasing, suffocating airline security measures that show no signs of loosening any time in the near future, frequent fl yers face far more travel hassles than ever before. If your attendees don’t live within driving distance of your meeting destination, you might fi nd visions of your program content competing
24
In an effort to protect travelers’ privacy, the TSA explains, passengers’ faces are “blurred out” to provide a measure of individual anonymity. In addition, remote TSA offi cers operate the machines from offsite locations, so individuals need not fear the potential embarrassment of a security screener putting a real face to a realistic body image.
scans has not gone ignored. In an effort to protect travelers’ privacy, the TSA explains, passengers’ faces are “blurred out” to provide a measure of individual anonymity. In addition, remote TSA offi cers operate the machines from offsite locations, so individuals need not fear the potential embarrassment of a security screener putting a real face to a realistic body image. The machines contain no storage capacity, and the transportation of body scanner images to any other device might soon be classifi ed as a felony under federal law. According to the Associated Press, an “amendment by Sens. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y… would prohibit anyone with access to the scanned body images, whether security personnel or members of the public, from photographing or disseminating those images. Besides a prison term, violators could be fi ned up to $100,000 per violation.” And let’s not forget the oft-overlooked obvious: AIT scans are optional, offered as an alternative to lengthier security procedures such as physical pat-downs. That said, aside from persistent
privacy concerns, body scanners also raise recurring matters of passenger safety into question, due to a prevalent reliance upon radiation to produce X-rayesque representations of the human form. In response, the TSA has issued statements
to reassure the public that the amount of individual radiation exposure experienced during a scan is less than that received after fl ying for two minutes at 30,000 feet. However, according
MIDWEST MEETINGS SUMMER 2011
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