Threat Level Privacy, Crime and Security Online Body Scanners Might Violate U.K. Child-Protection Laws

The deployment of body-scanning X-ray machines could violate child-protection laws in Britain and prevent their implementation, according to The Guardian.
British officials were forced to exempt the scanning of anyone under 18 during a yearlong test of the machines at Manchester airport until legal questions could be worked out, the newspaper said.
There are also concerns that images of nude celebrities could be posted online or sold to tabloids.
Body scanning machines have been touted as a solution for catching hidden explosives and other dangerous items after a would-be bomber attempted to blow up a Christmas Day flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, using explosives concealed in his underwear. Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport has 15 of the scanners, but none were used to scan the would-be bomber before he boarded the flight, according to the Associated Press.
There are currently 40 full-body scanners being used at 19 U.S. airports. Some are being used for primary screening — instead of the traditional metal detectors — while others are reserved only for so-called secondary screening. The Transportation Security Administration has ordered 300 more machines in the wake of the recent bombing attempt, according to The Washington Post. Some in Congress want to limit the use to passengers designated for special screening.
TSA spokeswoman Suzanne Trevino told the Associated Press that the administration had been working with privacy advocates and the scanner makers to develop software that blurs the faces and genitalia of passengers. But this raises questions about whether a blurred image would be as effective at detecting hidden explosives, such as those concealed by the so-called underwear bomber. She said passengers also can currently opt for a full-body pat-down instead of a scan.
Although scanned images are not supposed to be stored, there are concerns that security personnel are not adequately monitored and that images of children could fall into the hands of pedophiles.
Threat Level has put in a call to the TSA about how it would address the same concern in the United States with regard to images of children. We will update the post when the TSA responds.

Simon Davies, founder of the British-based group Privacy International, said that scans of celebrities or even of people with unusual body features could have an “irresistible pull” for some employees who want to share them with friends or others.
A Manchester airport spokesman told the Guardian that 500 people had participated in its 12-month test so far on a voluntary basis. Nearly all of them had responded with positive feedback, according to the spokesman. The image is reportedly only seen by one security officer, who is stationed in a remote location to prevent the officer from matching the image to an identity.
Former Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff argued in a recent Washington Post editorial for nationwide deployment of full-body scanners in the United States. Chertoff has also been making the rounds of media outlets to tout the technology.
But according to The Washington Post, Chertoff failed to disclose during many of his appearances that his consultancy, the Chertoff Group, represents a company that makes body-scanning machines, Rapiscan Systems.
The Post reports that this year the TSA bought 150 machines from Rapiscan for $25 million in stimulus funds. Rapiscan was the only company at the time that qualified for the government contract because its machines produced a less-graphic image of bodies. Another company has since become eligible for future contracts.

Photo: Susan Hallowell, the director of the Transportation Security Administration’s security laboratory, allows her body to be X-rayed by the “backscatter” machine.

Brian Branch-Price/AP

@'Wired'