Full Body Scanners Research Paper

Do you Have Anything in your Pockets?

Did you know by late 2011, Europe had banned full-body scanners from its airports? Why has America not followed in Europe's lead? Many Americans have different opinions on the scanners being used. The advances in technology enable America to use full-body scanners to detect objects on a person's body for security screening purposes, without removing clothes or making physical contact. The United States have been using full-body scanners to update their airport security against attacks. Are body scanners worth the protection and making people feel better when it is a violation of rights and the money could be used in other places better.

1. Protection

“Annoying” and “waste of time” are normally the first

thoughts that come to mind when people think about airport security. However, airport security plays a big role in the protection of passengers, and should not be taken lightly. Before September 11, 2001, terrorism was not a major threat to air travelers. The systems used were focused on screening passengers and baggage to detect suspicious passengers, and dangerous items. The Computer-Assisted Passenger Prescreening System maintained a watch list for individuals known to pose a threat to airline or passenger safety (_________, ). ______Add more?_____
Another way of protecting passengers was matching them to their baggage to reduce the risk of concealed explosives on the aircraft. 9/11 opened the eyes of many people. Airports knew something had to be done to protect everyone from terrorism, and that included higher security. Some airports installed new technologies and developed new procedures. Metal detectors were commonly used in airports around the world, but they are not good at revealing non-metal weapons like how the full-body scanners can detect.
Even after 9/11, the improvements made to airport security did not help enough, and more advances needed to be put into place to keep people safe. That is when they developed the full-body scanner. The full-body scanner detects objects on a person’s body without removing clothes, or making physical contact. There are two kinds of full-body scanners out there the millimeter wave scanner, which uses non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation, and the backscatter X-ray machine, which uses ionizing electromagnetic radiation (Overton, 2013). Full-body scanners started replacing metal detectors in 2007. Full-body scanners are a new way of detecting if someone has something dangerous on them or not. Not all new protections are happening on the inside of the airport; there are also safety procedures going on in the airplane itself.
Pilots are trying to protect themselves and the passengers and the airplane from any hijacking events. Pilots can now carry a weapon when they go on a job. Pilots also lock the cockpit doors in case someone tries to get inside of there to control the plane (Kaye, 2012). Security systems should always be changing in order to keep up with new technologies being produced, and the new updates also keep terrorists on their toes because they will not know what has changed. Airport security is needed to protect passengers and airports from threats.
2. Make people feel better
Do full-body scanners really keep passengers safe, or are they there to make us feel better about traveling? Some say that full-body scanners are ineffective for many reasons. A major problem that scanners have is that they cannot penetrate beneath the skin. Hiding items in body cavities or in implants conceals them from the scanners. 1,813 firearms were discovered in carry-on bags at checkpoints across the country, averaging nearly five firearms per day. Of those, 1,477 (81%) were loaded (Burns, 2013). Firearms are a big deal in airports, and people tried to sneak more guns in this year than last year. An undercover TSA agent was able to carry a handgun through the full-body scanner multiple times without the weapon being detected, but in that case it was not the machine, but the person in charge of viewing the images (Stinchfield, 2011). Full-body scanners keep people safe for the most part, but there also needs to be help from the person in charge, or things can get past the machine. Full-body scanners are used to try to keep people safe from the dangers that terrorists pose.
There is also some psychology behind airport security.

Airports make people feel safe because they have security to protect them, but airports also make people feel uneasy because of all the security needed to get through to make it to the airplane. Having heightened security makes people feel safe while the United States is under threats from other countries. The security causes people to feel safe because of the full-body scanners that can detect if a person is hiding a weapon. A need for involvement of going through security makes us feel safer, but also nervous. People know it is a way to try and stop the terrorists from traveling with weapons, but are scared that the TSA agents will think they are dangerous too. There are little things that are done in airports to make people feel better, such as something simple as the bomb sniffing dogs. In attempt to make people feel safe, the bomb sniffing dogs used in airports usually have fluffy ears, instead of pointy, because it makes them look friendlier (Deane, 21). They are trying to make people feel better about traveling, rather than being anxious. The airport and United States government are trying to show us that there is nothing to worry about when flying. Full-body scanners both keep us safe from danger, and make people feel better about traveling because they are

protected.

3. Violation of rights
Some people believe that full-body scanners are a violation of rights, privacy, and that they cause health issues. Claims are made that full-body scanners violate the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution because they subject citizens to searches without evidence of wrongdoing (Taylor, 45). Airports are able to get around the Fourth Amendment because it is in the name of “reasonable suspicion” to see if the person is in possession of an illegal weapon (Cushing, 2013). People that do not believe in going through the full-body scanner can opted out of it, and get a pat down instead. Airports say the full-body scanners are voluntary.
The full-body scanner is an invasion of privacy because the images that the machines take are of personal things that people have every right to keep private. The increase in security creates hostility which can lead to violence. These actions cause negative stereotypes of certain groups of people, such as Muslims, who are often being accused of being terrorists. The negativity can lead to hate crimes against said people.
Full-body scanners are an invasion of privacy because the machines pictures show the human body in detail. Each machine is different in what it shows, but some of the machines show a lot that is private. Citizens are told that the images generated from the scanners are destroyed immediately after taken, but the scanners could easily take a picture of the screen they are watching. There has also been some pictures taken from the scanners leaked to the public, so not all pictures are destroyed like how they are said to be (Deane, 22). The scanners now use Automated Target Recognition software that blurs the image produced and will flag the operator, or indicate there is no threat (Overton, 2013). Travelers can opt out of the scanners and get patted down instead, but airports are not too happy to do so.
Forty-six percent of United States citizens are against full-body scanners because of the risk of cancer. Millimeter wave scanners are considered generally safe for living things, while backscatter X-ray machines, which are similar to dental X-ray, could be cancerous. Some people say that the official reports of how much radiation is being emitted from the backscatter X-ray is higher than claimed by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) or the manufacturers. Radiation from backscatter X-ray scanner is not safe to use on large numbers of people because of the increased risk of cancer to the populations. The millimeter wave scanners have no proven health effects, but no long term studies have been done. Full-body scanners are a violation of rights, privacy, and could potentially cause health issues in the future.