Sun Media has learned that Canada is installing backscatter x-ray machines at airports. These scanners, which use extremely high frequency millimeter waves, are able to see under clothes to reveal anything hidden within the clothes, including all body parts. The resulting scans are very revealing, with all the body parts visible.
There are a couple of noteworthy quotes from the article that suggest that the deployment has not been fully thought out:
“The scanner took much more time to process travellers than a regular pat-down or metal detector.” The machine was actually able to scan 10% of target number of passengers per hour. I look forward to waiting in line for this one.
Concerning whether to include optional software to blur the genital regions, a CATSA spokesman said: “Once we purchase the technology, then we will see how we will use it and deploy it.” Would it not make more sense to figure this out before money is spent and the machines are used, especially since this is a fundamental privacy issue?
Apparently, a privacy impact report has been submitted to Canada’s Privacy Commissioner. It will be interesting to see what the response is.
The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority is charging ahead with plans to buy seven controversial virtual strip search scanners, but has decided against genital blurring software to go with them.
According to documents obtained by Sun Media under Access to Information, CATSA is recommending Transport Canada accept the scanner for use in Canada even though a seven-month trial at Kelowna International Airport showed the machine didn’t meet the security agency’s expectations.