Security Scanner Can See Through Clothes

February 24th, 2007 in Technology / Other
Security Scanner Can See Through Clothes (AP)

A model, who declined to be identified, demonstrates passenger use of an X-ray security scanner as TSA officer Melanie Concepcion controls the device at Sky Harbor International Airport, in Phoenix, Ariz., Friday, Feb. 23, 2007. The scanner that can see through clothing was scheduled to be put into its first operational use later Friday and could be rolled out to two other major airports by year\'s end. The so-called "backscatter" technology has been controversial, with critics saying the high-resolution images are too invasive. But the Transportation Security Administration adjusted the machine\'s images so the normally graphic pictures can be blurred in certain areas while still being effective at detecting concealed weapons or other threats. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

(AP) -- Sky Harbor International Airport became the country's first to begin testing a controversial new federal screening system that takes X-rays of passenger's bodies in an effort to find concealed explosives and other weapons.

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