Walking through airport scanners is a necessary part of airline travel these days, but have you ever considered what those devices actually show?
The gadgets are intended to highlight any objects that people may be hiding beneath their garments; hence, they must be able to’see through’ your clothes to some level.
But just how much can they see?
In the big scheme of things, widespread aircraft travel is a relatively new phenomenon, therefore the technology underlying its security is still being updated and polished.
Not enough to get through a full bottle of shampoo just yet, but we’re making progress.
Shawna Malvini Redden, PhD, a communication scholar who has examined the TSA since 2010 and wrote the book 101 Pat-Downs, told Reader’s Digest that airport security could have seen a lot more using X-ray scanners just a few years ago.
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scans purporting to come from these scanners went viral after revealing the horrifying reality of the scans, which depict incredibly accurate reconstructions of a completely naked person.
Yes, you heard me correctly. Every time someone walked through the scanners, those security guards seemed to get a good look.
Malvini Redden confirmed the authenticity of these photographs, stating: “Early versions of the scanners came out without any privacy protections, and TSOs in the checkpoint could be looking at naked images of passengers as they went through the screening.”
Needless to say, this discovery sent everyone reeling.
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After hearing the news, one individual took to X and commented: “Wait, when you walk through the airport security scanner thing, do the TSA agents see you naked???!!?” “I should have been flexing!!!!!!”
As I previously indicated, technology has advanced since 2013.
Fortunately, scanners aren’t as intrusive anymore, as Malvini Redden explained: “Now when passengers are scanned, the machines are supposed to generate generic images of a body instead of the passenger’s unique image.”
Instead of detailed photos, the machine generates a ‘doll’-like form that represents the general human outline.
“With millimeter wave machines that have the privacy software installed, TSOs are only seeing this outline with a green ‘clear’ or a red ‘stop and check’ signal,” Redden went on to say.
“If someone has something in their pockets, for instance, the machine will put an alarm note in the paper doll’s groin region so the officer knows generally where to search.”
So there you have it; you don’t have to worry about security seeing all of your belongings, just what you neglected to take out of your pockets.
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