November 16th, 2010

Body Scanners That Don't Keep Pictures Apparently Keep Pictures

The crusading Joel Johnson of Gizmodo has published a set of images taken from a millimeter scanning system at a Florida Federal courthouse. These images were not supposed to exist yet they do and, while the resolution of these is sub par, if these machines retain their images then we can only assume that TSA machines also keep and store these images. → Read More

March 4th, 2010

A first? Muslim woman refuses to submit to airport body scan, not allowed to board flight

It finally happened. A Muslim woman in Manchester refused to submit to a full-body airport body scanner and was thus barred from boarding her flight. She cited her Muslim faith, which might have been expected, as to why she refused to submit to the scan. I don’t trust the Internet to react to this news with any aplomb whatsoever. → Read More

January 3rd, 2010

Claim: Millimeter wave body scanners wouldn't have stopped Christmas plot. Why bother with them, then?

Not to alarm y’all, but those millimeter wave body scanners that have been paraded around as the solution to would-be airplane terrorist attacks? Turns out they’re sorta useless in that, while they’re able to detect dense material (C4, metal, traditional bombs, etc.), they’re completely ineffective against less dense material. And wouldn’t you know it, the powdered explosive that was to have been… → Read More

October 1st, 2009

Get ready for more of those TSA body scanners!

Oh, dear. The TSA will expand the use of those body scanners we’ve talked about time and time again. This will no doubt freak out a certain segment of the population, but I have something even more terrifying for y’all: adjustable rate mortgages! → Read More

May 18th, 2009

Outrage: Privacy group target airport body scanners

Man, people are pretty uncomfortable with their bodies. Remember those whole-body airport scanners? Well, “privacy advocates” are now demanding that the Transportation Security Administration remove them from all airports because, yes, they say it’s an invasion of privacy. As such, a group called the Electronic Privacy Information Center, or EPIC (really, EPIC? perhaps this whole story is… → Read More

November 30th, 2008

No more embarrassment: Non-nude body scanner to undergo tests this week in Germany

Last week’s attacks in India have reminded us all of the keen danger that terrorism poses. But one tool that was to be employed at airports to combat terrorism, those body scanners that sometimes reveal a person’s, well, person, came under criticism. Fighting terror (inasmuch as you can fight it) is great and all, but should people literally be exposed in the process? The Germans say… → Read More

June 6th, 2008

Body scanners that can see through clothing to be installed in 10 U.S. airports soon

Body scanners that can “see” underneath clothing will be installed in 10 of the country’s biggest airports within the next few weeks. Airline passengers in cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. can look forward to scenes like the kind depicted in this photo here. How they’ll be used: The scanners bounce harmless “millimeter waves” off… → Read More