New full-body scanners are set to be installed in each of Heathrow’s five terminals next week. Even though the government’s Equality and Human Rights Commission has warned that the machines could very well breach a persons right to privacy under the Human Rights Act, ministers have said that no passenger will be allowed to refuse to go through. Even in America passengers are allowed to opt for a body search if they feel uncomfortable going through the scanners.
As of next week two types of scanning technique will be tested. Backscatter technology exposes a passenger walking through one of the scanners to x-rays. Recent tests at Manchester Airport have shown that this technology may have been able to alert security personnel to the kind of bomb that was carried on to a Northwest Airlines jet on Christmas day. The second type of scan is the millimeter wave system which produces a 3- dimensional image of a passenger’s body. If anything is revealed by either of the scanning techniques then passengers will be taken away for further examination by officials. Both methods of scanning have raised concerns because they are capable of producing nude pictures of passengers.
In order to allay passenger fear about privacy the security officer operating the scanner will not be able to see the person he or she is scanning. A second security officer will guide passengers through the scanner and will communicate with the person viewing the scan by radio. Once a person has completed the scan their image will be examined and then deleted.
