Translated material
Striptease on the scanner
The European initiative confused parliamentarians
The European Commission has forced the authorities of EU member states to make a difficult choice between protecting themselves from terrorists and protecting the personal dignity of citizens. Brussels officials have proposed introducing full scans of air passengers - officially called "full body scans" - at check-in counters at EU airports. The procedure should be introduced in 2010.In practice, this means that all passengers will enter a booth that looks like a telephone booth. A scanner emitting electromagnetic waves will create a three-dimensional picture of the body of the person being scanned on the monitor screen. You don’t have to undress for a search - in the booth you just need to raise your hands and fix them in that position for three seconds. However, the passenger will appear naked on the screen in black and white before the security officers. Electromagnetic waves will penetrate through clothing and reveal all the secret details, ranging from hidden weapons to scars, moles and piercings in intimate places, which will also be clearly visible on the monitor.
In Germany, almost all political parties have taken a negative stance towards such an overt form of control. At the end of last week, when news of the impending innovation at airports began to take on the characteristics of a scandal, Federal Minister of the Interior Wolfgang Schäuble, through the mouth of his press secretary, said that such “dubious” methods would not be tolerated in Germany. Nevertheless, the federal police (they are entrusted with the functions of border guards in Germany) this fall are starting to study the effectiveness of electronic scanners. It is difficult to imagine that this is being done out of pure curiosity.
The Brussels initiative, even before its official promulgation, became known to members of the European Parliament, who were the first to criticize the innovation. Representatives of all factions - from left to right - announced an impending attack on human dignity. “I can already imagine the greasy comments from those who look at the pictures on security monitors,” noted European Greens MP Eva Lichtenberger. She was supported by a fellow MEP who preferred to remain incognito: “It turns out to be like a nudist beach at the airport”
There is another important question that European parliamentarians are trying to clarify - how harmful is X-raying with such a device to human health? For those who fly a lot, the question is far from idle. In addition, the deputies demand clarity on the question of what will happen to the images after the completion of the whole body scanning procedure? Brussels is trying to calm the passions around the upcoming new product with assurances that EU countries at the national level will be able to decide for themselves whether they will acquire such new technology or whether security will continue to hand-feel passengers the old fashioned way.
For European officials this is a purely technical issue. Electromagnetic scanners have a wide range of action; unlike metal detectors, they can detect weapons and other dangerous objects on board an aircraft - for example, glass or ceramics. The new device is cheaper and faster than personal searches of passengers by security personnel. Scanners of this type are already in full use at a number of major airports - in New York, London, Zurich, Los Angeles and Sydney.
The idea of this, as one member of the European Parliament put it, “striptease for safety” was born in the USA. Similar scanners there, priced at $150,000, have been in operation for several months. At the Phoenix (Arizona) airport, according to the results of a survey, the vast majority liked the new product. 80% of passengers checking in were in favor of electronic verification, and only 20% preferred live contact with security officers.