Imaging Technology Scanners Essay

1248 Words3 Pages

Full Name: Huy Tran
Paper 3
Privacy Concerns and Equity Issues Surrounding Imaging Technology Scanners
Imaging Technology Scanners are used widely in the United States to filter millions of people through airport security checks, in response to terrorist threats. The systems that have generated the most controversy are the passenger full-body scanners. Two main types of full-body scanners used in airports are Backscatter and Millimeter-wave technology units (Accardo, 2014). Although they radiate different type of radiations, both scanners serve the same purpose to detect contraband concealed under clothing without the need for a strip search. Although Imaging Technology Scanners are deployed to further public safety efforts, they have also generated widespread public concerns. These concerns address public health, privacy and equity issues.
BACKGROUND
Backscatter
According to Transportation Security Administration (2008), backscatters use a narrow, low intensity X-ray beam to scan over the body’s surface at high speed. The technology relies on the X-ray radiation that is reflected back from the body and other objects placed or carried on the body, where it is converted into a computer image, embedded with a modesty filter and displayed on a remote monitor. Passengers will walk up to the backscatter unit, assisted by a …show more content…

J., 2014). Some organizations filed a lawsuit to suspend the deployment of this technology, called it unlawful, invasive and ineffective and argued that it violated Privacy Act (Accardo, 2014). After that, the Transportation Security Administration took some measures such as obscuring passenger’s face, making image less graphic or producing only the general outline of the body. However, the passengers are still concerned about the detail and privacy of their

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