Air travellers to US face virtual strip search

If you intent to visit US , then prepare to be a free virtual stripper, unless you can avoid from going through their airport.

President Barack Obama blamed a "catastrophic'' system failure for the Christmas Day terror attack over Detroit as officials warned air travellers entering the US could be forced to undergo "virtual strip searches''.

Walk-through imaging machines that let security officials see through a passenger's clothes could become widespread across the country after the "crotch bomber's'' failed attempted to blow up a passenger plane as it prepared to land, reports the Courier Mail.

Six millimetre wave technology machines are already being used for primary screenings at airports in cities including Las Vegas, Miami and San Francisco.

Another 13 airports across the country use the machines to screen passengers who have already set off a metal detector.

Passengers can opt for a pat-down search instead.


Whole body imaging - how it works

- Millimeter wave technology (MMW) can see through clothing to reveal metallic and nonmetallic objects, including weapons or plastic explosives. They also reveal a person's silhouette and the outlines of underwear

- The technique bounces radio-frequency waves off people to construct a 3-D image within a few seconds

- MMW scans intentionally blur facial features, and the security officer viewing images sits in a remote location where he or she cannot identify the passengers

- The officer is unable to print, export, store or transmit the image

- The US Transportation Security Agency has also trialled backscatter technology which uses low level X-ray to create a two-sided image

Source - US Transportation Security Agency

Categories: Technology