Manchester Airport trials ‘nude’ scanners
16th October 2009
Manchester Airport has started trialling a controversial new security scanner that can see through clothes to passengers’ naked bodies
Manchester Airport has started trialling a controversial new security scanner that can see through clothes to passengers’ naked bodies.
The x-ray scanners in the airport’s Terminal 2 produce a ghostly outline of passengers’ bodies, which are then transmitted to screening staff in a private room.
The airport has been keen to stress that the scanning is anonymous and passengers’ faces can’t be identified. Passengers can opt out of passing through them on their way to their departure gate.
Sarah Barrett, head of customer experience at the airport, commented: “We can assure the public that it does not allow security staff to see passengers naked.
“The image produced is a black and white ghost-like outline of an individual’s body without any distinguishing features such as hair or facial features, making it impossible to recognise people but simple to detect concealed threats.”
The scanners are being trialled for a year.
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