U.S. to eliminate "nude" images in full-body scanners

2011-07-21 05:41:29

WASHINGTON, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The United States on Wednesday said it is to use new software to address privacy issues related to "nude" images produced by full body scanners in airports.

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Administrator John Pistole said in a statement that the agency is to begin installing software "designed to enhance privacy" on full-body scanners. The software would eliminate "passenger-specific images."

Instead of producing near nude images of passengers scanned, the newly updated machines will "auto-detect items that could pose a potential threat using a generic outline of a person for all passengers."

"By eliminating the image of an actual passenger and replacing it with a generic outline of a person, passengers are able to view the same outline that the TSA officer sees," said the statement. The updates will be installed on scanners in about 40 airports in the country.

"This software upgrade enables us to continue providing a high level of security through advanced imaging technology screening, while improving the passenger experience at checkpoints," said Pistole.

Full-body scanner has raised considerable privacy concerns after its deployment in airports around the country. It was one of the measures the TSA put in place after the failed attack on a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day of 2009, when an attacker concealed explosives in his underpants.

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