Full body airport scanners to hit UK airports

Not too enthused about this, but at the same time prevention is better than cure. Since the 7/7 independent inquest that's been on-going for the past few weeks Britain has been put on a high terrorist alert. I personally am not buying too much into this. I feel that the emergency services such as the police are merely trying to make-up for the failure to assist people on the 7/7 bombings by their slow responses as they felt "there may be another bomb" on the tubes and the MI5 more so for missing out on vital clues in the run up to the event that could easily have been prevented. http://7julyinquests.independent.gov.uk/

We are going to have to adjust our underwear a few times when we head for the gate!

That is JUST great. Now I'll have to start working out and check into the possibility of lead-lined undies before I make a trip back. SHIT.

I always knew the Brits were perverts... UPDATE: I heard that they scanned Lady Gaga the other day. Not sure if I want to know what they found...

Privacy is increasingly becoming a rare commodity in Western societies. Get used to it, it's "for your own security". Right? This strikes me as another reactionary move by the security agencies, rather than a proactive one. Psychological profiling and other methods work a lot better than intrusive search practices in my view. It is unnecessary and makes flying a great inconvenience. As if it wasn't a pleasant experience as is.

Did they find any British people with good teeth?

Where do I sign up to work at a British Airport ???!!!

Not a big splash of a story here. . .too much going on. . . At a party here in the capital region, a woman large enough to have pencils and paper clips orbit her presence and a face ugly enough to have a dog howl protested full body scanners as an "invasion of privacy". . .CS retorted two points- 1. If you fly, you can throw your bitch-ass concepts of privacy out the window and 2. If fat and ugly people become ashamed to fly, HOO-RAY! We need less people flying- not more.

I am rating this as very significant for one reason only: Full body airport scanners as a solution to protect people from terrorism is assanine in that it creates a false sense of security related to terrorists having access to their intended victims. It's just fortunate for travellers that terrorists haven't figured out that they could probably kill more tourists/travellers by blowing themselves up prior to reaching the scanners, in Walmart parking lots and stores at Christmas, on subways, trains, busses, sporting venues. Besides, after what that airline employee did to the student involving a bag of powder, suggests to me you can't trust the bobble heads keeping your private parts private.

I think it's terrible that something like this has even had to come about. I personally have issues with this, but something does have to transpire to protect the general public. I've only had to fly a few times in my life, but I never know what the future will hold.

Far and away the majority of Americans do not and will not object to this technology. The problem with airport security is that across the spectrum we have unmotivated, pension-awaiting, union federal employees conducting the searches and while some of those employees do care about keeping Americans safe, there are many who treat it as a job where they trade their time for money. All it takes is one. So the question remains, how lucky do you feel? The people on the flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day were lucky indeed. They were unlucky in the screening process, the intelligence process, the communications process between US federal agencies AND the on-board regulations process (no federal marshall aboard). But, they were lucky in the "competence of al Qaeda" process and the luck of the draw regarding their fellow passengers. Very lucky. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was not so lucky, until he reached America where he expected to be blown to little bits by his u... Read more

Scans of my package will be a BIG hit the internet.

These are being installed at YVR (Vancouver International) for flights going to the U.S. The "pornography" issue aside, which I regard as specious nonsense at best, the fact remains that technology alone is not and never will be a safeguard against terrorism or air piracy. While no system will ever be perfect, well trained personnel, asking questions and observing the subjects behaviour is far more likely to be effective. However, it is always more showy and ultimately cheaper to add technology than to hire and train competent staff.

Following the attempted attack on a flight over Christmas the British government has now decided to fast track the installation of the full body scanners across all UK airports. Due to the nature of these scanners though there has been severe opposition due to potential "pornography concerns". The idea is that with these improved scanners they are more likely to detect concealed weapons when going through airport security without having to frisk them. The problem though is that although they're not fully detailed images, they are detailed enough to be considered offensive. This has then raised serious concerns that it could be treated as pornography and that it would be illegal for minors to be made to go through one of these scanners. In addition to this the government have admitted that they wouldn't eliminate threat either as they believe it's possible for potential terrorists to construct a bomb from what is available in duty free. Personally I don't see the point in these new s... Read more