'Naked' scanners may soon be on the way out [View All]

[nadinbrzezinski]

By Joy Jernigan, senior travel editor

The House Subcommittee on Transportation Security on Wednesday unanimously approved an amendment to the annual TSA Authorization Act of 2011 that would put an end to "naked" full-body images currently produced by Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) machines at U.S. airports.

The scanners, which were first deployed at U.S. airports beginning in 2007, have been widely criticized, with privacy advocates arguing the images are too revealing.
Under the amendment, introduced by Rep. Chip Craavack (R-Minn.), a former airline pilot, the Transportation Security Administration would have 90 days to install automated target recognition software on all AIT machines. The new software produces a generic, stick figure outline of a person being screened rather than a detailed, passenger-specific image. If a traveler has a suspicious item on their body, it shows up as a red box on a specific area of a stick figure outline.

http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/09/14/7762175-naked-scanners-may-soon-be-on-the-way-out

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