March is finally upon us, and although we are at the tail end of winter, visions of bikinis, beaches and sweating beer bottles are dancing in our heads. For many, spring break will mean stripping off our winter layers and exposing our long-covered skin to the sun. This year, however, some of those traveling can expect the opportunity to bare all even before they hit the beach, thanks to a crop of body scanners being installed in airports nationwide. I call it Spring Break Strip Down: Airport Edition.
Since 9/11, airport security has been constantly tightening, and with each new threat comes another hurdle for travelers to jump over. We can thank Richard Reid’s attempt to blow up a plane with explosives hidden in his shoe for long lines of people struggling to make it through security checkpoints in stocking feet. We can blame a group of would-be terrorists from England for restricting us to a Ziploc bag full of liquids. Now, Umar Abdulmutallab’s attempt to blow up a plane using explosives hidden in his underwear last Christmas has caused President Obama to authorize the purchase of 150 body scanners to be installed in airports nationwide by June of this year.
Body scanners use x-ray technology to detect objects hidden on passengers’ bodies. The scanners can literally see through clothing and create an explicit image of the body of the person being scanned. Body shape, size and contours are all visible, and no roll of fat or anatomic item goes unseen. The Transportation Security Administration swears passengers’ faces are blurred out and that the staff members who view the scans are located in an office far from the scanners themselves, but this has done little to quell opposition to the ‘virtual strip search’.
There are many people opposed to the nightmare-esque idea of being seen naked by complete strangers. Pope Benedict XVI has expressed concern that the scanners would compromise the integrity of fliers. The use of scanners is also being heavily debated in the Muslim world because womens’ bodies would be exposed, which is absolutely taboo according to Islam. Some child advocacy groups are concerned child abusers may be attracted to jobs with the TSA for the opportunity to see scanned images of children, and the American Civil Liberties Union is also firmly against the scanners, stating that TSA employees should not have the right to see fliers’ near-naked bodies. Ralph Nader has also joined the crusade, and speaking for the Electronic Privacy Information Center has asked for the scanners to be held until a “comprehensive evaluation” is done to determine their effectiveness and any health risks they may impose.
In the United States, there are 19 airports already using 40 body scanners, and just six of these scanners are used for primary screening. In all other cases, the scanners are used only if the passengers are flagged for secondary screening. No passenger is required to go through a scanner and can choose a pat down instead. While the scanners can indeed see items that are hidden in clothing, they cannot see items hidden inside the body, and there have been conflicting opinions among experts on whether or not this technology could have picked up the explosives that Abdulmutallab brought into Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, undermining the entire operation. The government has already spent $25 million dollars on the purchase of the scanners, but it looks like that was a very expensive mistake.
The thing about airport security is that it is yet to fully catch up with terroristic bomb innovation. With every thwarted attack on planes comes a new security measure, which is followed by a new kind of attack on planes. Those who are serious about blowing up a plane know about security and find ways to circumvent it, but adding security can make it a little more complicated for them to do. While some say the scanners are a necessary evil, the fact that passengers can opt out of scans makes the whole thing seem like a gross misuse of federal funds. Those who choose to go through the scanners are those who have nothing to hide from it, and those who have something to hide will find a way to get around it.
Essentially, the government had to do something to pacify fears of another terrorist attack, and body scanners seemed to fit the bill. No one wants their body exposed, but I am equally sure that no one wants to die in a plane crash, and for the moment at least, the TSA is saying one will prevent the other. Airport security has reached ridiculous levels, but we can either suck it up or drive. Body scanners are the newest inconvenience — but they are surely not the last, and the world will have to drastically change before we can return to hassle-free flying. So if you’re flying this spring break, I’ll see you at the gym.
Allegra Dimperio ([email protected]) is a freshman majoring in theatre and intending to major in journalism.
