Full-body scannersFull-body scanner privacy concerns could be easily solved

Published 29 November 2010

A U.S. government scientists involved in developing the full-body scanner says privacy concerns can be easily addressed by adding a simple algorithm to the scanners’ computer code; the algorithm distorts the body image into “grotesque” shapes without degrading the scanner’s detection capabilities

A government scientist who helped develop the full-body scanners says the images could easily be distorted into “grotesque” shapes, much like you would see in a funhouse mirror, to preserve passengers’ privacy.

Willard “Bill” Wattenburg, of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, told the Washington Post the distortion would also clearly reveal any dangerous objects hidden beneath clothing. He said he suggested the distortion method back in 2006, but DHS officials rebuffed his idea.

 

“Why not just distort the image into something grotesque so that there isn’t anything titillating or exciting about it?” Wattenburg said.

It involves adding a simple algorithm to the scanners’ computer code, he said. He said it is so simple “a 6-year-old could do the same thing with Photoshop.”

Ashley Halsey III reports that the federal government started installing the scanners a few months ago using funds from the stimulus bill. The backscatter scanners emit X-rays that pass through clothing and bounce off passengers’ skin, producing revealing close-ups of passengers’ bodies, private parts and all. The process also exposes people to ionizing radiation for about six seconds.

Consumer groups, pilots, and privacy advocates have been up in arms, and at least a couple lawsuits have been filed. Passengers do not have to use them, but objectors must undergo an “enhanced” pat-down by TSA agents that involves the touching of genital areas.

In a pre-Thanksgiving travel message, Transportation Security Administration head John Pistole explained it thusly: “You will receive a thorough pat-down by someone of the same gender. If you alarm either the metal detector or the [body scanner], you will also receive a thorough pat-down by someone of the same gender.”

Wattenburg told the Post that when he first heard the TSA was buying backscatter scanners, he knew people would get upset. “People are immediately going to scream like hell because they’re taking the clothes off everybody,” he said.