A Utah congressman said Wednesday that he will introduce legislation to limit airport security's use of full-body scans, saying they are too intrusive and akin to "TSA Porn."
"I want the planes to be as safe as possible, but this is just
going too far," said Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R), a first-term Congressman from Provo. "The name of safety is overtaking personal privacy and
I think that's wrong."
Salt Lake City International Airport in Chaffetz's home state is one of six airports nationwide serving as testing ground for the full-body scanners. As OhMyGov! has reported, the millimeter wave scanning machines replace the need for pat-downs of travelers going through airport security checkpoints, but they introduce a different sort of privacy invasion that is unpalatable to some... namely, a nearly naked digital image that Transportation Security Administration officers analyze from a cordoned-off area.
TSA officials tout the new technology as more convenient and more comprehensive, enabling security screeners to identify hidden objects on travelers that metal detectors or the personal pat-downs may miss. Passengers step into a glassed area at the security checkpoint and place their arms in two different positions as the digital images are taken. Within a few seconds, passengers are normally free to go, unless the images reveal something suspicious.
"We don't look at it as an intrusion per se," local TSA
spokesman Dwayne Baird told the Salt Lake Tribune. Currently at the test airports, passengers can opt out of the body scan, but this provision may be removed as the scanners become more widespread.
Chaffetz's bill would ensure that passengers who prefer a pat-down by TSA officials (well, presumably just one at a time) could receive one, rather than be subjected to the body imaging machine.
(Incidentally, Chaffetz says on his House website
that when he's away from his Utah home, he sleeps on a cot to save more
than $1500 per month. This has nothing to do with the story, but how
could we resist.)
TSA is quick to point out that the security officials greeting the passengers never see the digital centerfolds, nor do those reviewing the images see the corresponding people in the flesh. According to the agency, the images are not printed or stored. While this could be 100% the case, no one would be faulted for questioning whether the government will keep its word.