Full Body Scanners
There’s been a lot of hubub recently over the implementation of full body x-ray scanners. Many people have quipped about loosing their liberties and modesty, some on the other hand are absolutely fine with it, but unfortunatley it seems like these people are in the minority.
It’s all come about since 9/11, increased security, increased fear and increased risk. Whilst there have been some ‘ridiculous’ rules put in place, the very notion of bringing more security to a frighteningly exposed business isn’t a bad thing at all.
Let’s look at the security aspect first of all. Ten years ago, sneaking a bomb or a weapon to wound, wasn’t so much of an issue, but despite this it was frankly very easy. So called ‘plastic knives’ came about, making the metal detector useless. These plastic knives are nothing like the cheap cutlery you get on aircraft nowadays. These were super hard plastic forms that were if almost as hard and sharp as the real thing. Sadly these weapons still exist today.
What about when you board the plane? Ever aircraft carries bottles of oxygen. Every aircraft carries chemicals, screws, rivets and electronic components that with the right hands could also be turned into a bomb. Lets also not forget that this small metal cylinder is under pressure when at altitude, and thanks to the advent of fly by wire technology and numerous flight simulators for the PC and Mac means that just about anyone who wanted to, could get into the cockpit of a 747 and fly it. Landing it is another matter of course. In fact, I would be as forward as to say that if I was plonked into a 747 cockpit, I could probably fly the thing well enough.
Yet when faced with the prospect of a security guard seeing your naked body to ensure that tools, sharp objects or even explosives don’t get on board these fragile machines, many passengers simply explode with rage.
Let’s not forget that every day, people are searched, strip searched and cavity searched. Whilst these procedures are necessary, many people can leave feeling undignified and violated. They shouldn’t, but sadly they do. So what exactly is so bad about someone seeing your naked form, a professional who is specially trained and will at all times be a professional, in order to prevent a flying metal tube with tonnes of explosive fuel turning into a weapon?
Yes, I acknowledge that security may well not be the only issue, many people are worried about their privacy, and of course they are right to do so. There have been a number of leaks lately of the two types of x-ray body scanners on the internet. These images of course were supposed to remain private and in some cases be deleted immediately.
Believe it or not, I disagree with this. Images, in my opinion, should be kept for a finite amount of time, say a week, or a month. If something were to happen on a flight, the first instance would be to reliably re-check the passengers for anything that might have been missed. They should however remain absolutely secure with zero risk of exposure. Perhaps store them in a file format that can only be read by a particular type of machine which in turn wont display images without a valid ID card approved for viewing the images. However it’s done, lets do it right.
Suffice to say, I believe we should keep these machines, but just make them a little more secure. After all, you don’t want to be the one who objected to them, only to find that a plane went down with a loved one because you protested their existence do you?
