Trial for 'privacy friendly’ body scanners
05.09.11
Heathrow Airport is running a trial privacy-friendly body scanners that replace graphic images of the human torso with a cartoon-like picture. If the trial is successful, it is likely to mean the end of metal detectors and full body searches, the Guardian reports.
The trial is using millimetre-wave scanners that bounce electromagnetic waves off a passenger's body. Passengers who set off metal detectors in Terminal 4 will be taken to the passenger-screening area, where they will be allowed to look at the scanner's image with security officers. If there is a suspicious package on their person, it will show up as a yellow box on a mannequin-like representation of their body.
Under previous trials at Heathrow and other UK airports, graphic images of passengers' bodies are viewed by security officials in an enclosed area. Ian Hutcheson, director of security at BAA, told the newspaper: ‘It will be effective security and a much better passenger experience.' The company plans to use the new scanners in all its airports if the trial is successful.
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