Courtesy of msnbc.com
The Transportation Security Administration has announced that full-body screening machines equipped with software to enhance passenger privacy soon will be placed in 29 smaller U.S. airports.
Instead of software that reveals images of a naked body, the TSA plans to install software that won’t create passenger-specific images. Instead, screeners see a generic outline of the body on a monitor attached to the scanner. The software auto-detects metallic and non-metallic concealed items. Many of the country's largest airports already have the upgraded software.
The machines to be deployed at the 29 airports will be millimeter-wave scanners, which use electromagnetic waves to produce an image of the body. The TSA also uses backscatter scanners, which use low-level X-ray beams to create an image of the body.
Among the airports to receive the scanners with upgraded software are Akron-Canton in Ohio, Hilo International in Hawaii, Norfolk International in Virginia, Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional in Florida and Plattsburgh International in New York. There are nearly 500 full-body scanners at the nation's 78 airports. The TSA hopes to purchase an additional 225 machines in the next year.
