Full-Body Scanning — a Search for Balance Between Privacy and Security
For decades, commercial aviation has been a target for terrorist organizations around the world. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), 848.1 million passengers in 2014 were scheduled to fly on U.S. and foreign airlines serving the United States. Whether you are flying to make a living or planning a vacation getaway, the first order of business is arriving at your destination safely. So, how much security should the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) use to protect passengers from the potential threat of terrorist activity?
The TSA implemented a multi-layered defense system in order to protect the nation’s aviation system and its passengers. If one protective measure fails to identify a threat then the system offers other opportunities for successful intervention. After all, a failure could result in a catastrophic event.
Most people generally support the idea of aviation security and are willing to endure minor inconveniences in exchange for increased security. What happens when security measures begin to intrude on travelers’ concern for privacy? In an attempt to identify organic materials such as explosives, TSA began using backscatter x-ray scanning as part of their protective measures for aviation security. This included full-body scans to detect explosives potentially being smuggled through security checkpoints. Backscatter x-ray scanners bombard objects with x-rays, and the greater the density of the object scanned the more the x-rays it will absorb. The scanner then converts the x-ray information into a photo-like image that can easily be interpreted.
The TSA’s use of backscatter x-ray technology for aviation security was controversial. Some people believed that the technology worked too well; they compared the images generated by a full-body scan using a backscatter x-ray to a strip search. In 2012 the outcry against backscatter x-ray caused Congress to mandate that the TSA’s use of technology deploy new software known as Automated Target Recognition (ATR) that converted body images into a generic outline. Backscatter x-ray technology could not meet this new standard and was removed from airports by TSA.
Today, TSA uses Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) consisting of non-ionizing radio frequency energy in the millimeter spectrum to generate three-dimensional images. Passengers are still be required to walk through full-body scans at the airport, but the ATR software associated with AIT will produce generic outlines, not a picture of the individual passenger. Any potential threats are identified by ATR and highlighted on the outline.
As an additional measure to protect the privacy of passenger, TSA has designed additional procedures in which passengers can decline AIT screening in exchange for participating in a physical screening, or “pat down”. It should be noted that the option to decline AIT screening will be scarcely denied to few passengers as indicated on their boarding pass prior to entering the security checkpoint.
As society and aviation security evolve we are continuously redefining how much privacy we should sacrifice for security. Backscatter x-ray scanning is a good example of how concerns over privacy can alter the way aviation security is conducted. It is a difficult balance to maintain as we seek the “sweet spot” between security and privacy. Our forefathers felt so strongly about human rights for citizens that they created the Bill of Rights. How much privacy are you willing to sacrifice to be secure?
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