The last time I flew, I wore a skirt.
That was a bad idea.
Apparently, wearing a skirt increases the number of “hiding places” on your person and as a consequence, I was subjected to increased security checks. I had to wait in a special line and take my turn walking through a special beeping machine.
When I arrived home, I mentioned this to my mother and she replied, “Of course you know that means they scanned you and they saw everything.”
Thanks, Mom. I feel better now.
If you ever fly, you know firsthand the kinds of personal impositions that are demanded of airline passengers in the name of safety. Now, with the advent of new technology, removing your shoes and belt, handing over your mascara, and throwing away your bottled water are just the beginning.
Body scanners produce X-ray like images that can reveal hidden objects under clothing. But this kind of “body search” produces privacy concerns for many.
“The price of liberty is too high,” said Kate Hanni, who as founder of FlyersRights.org, an advocacy organization for air passengers, shuttles regularly between her California home and Washington to lobby Congress. Hanni said many of her group’s 25,000 members are concerned that “the full-body scanners may not catch the criminals and will subject the rest of us to intrusive and virtual strip searches.”
But still others take the privacy issue lightly:
“I don’t think it’s any different than if you go to the beach and put on a bikini,” said Brandon Macsata, who started the Association for Airline Passenger Rights.
Hmmm, but what about those of us who, for reasons of modesty, don’t wear bikinis to the beach?
Critics talk as if the machines produce images that are “Playboy-centerfold quality,” said Jon Adler, head of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association. “I don’t consider the full-body scanners an invasion of privacy,” Adler said. “I think a bomb detonating on a plane is the biggest invasion of privacy a person can experience.”
The images produced might not be comparable to pornographic centerfolds, but they are revealing. So revealing, in fact, that I chose this rainbow body image to accompany this blog post instead of a real scan. The real scans are considerably more true-to-life.
There are measures in place to ensure that when full body scans are used, passengers’ privacy is still respected. The images produced are digital and are not recorded. Passengers’ faces are concealed and the x-ray images are viewed in a separate room.
While I do want the TSA to take every reasonable measure to avert terrorism, I am not sure if full body scanning is a reasonable measure.
What do you think?
Comments
Post a Comment
I think I need to go on a diet and buy new underwear. Just thinking about being scanned makes me feel embarassed.
There is a lot of work they need to do to reassure passengers that these scans are used ONLY as necessary for security and nothing more. Numerous statements have said that they do not save—but in India a film star there had his scan saved and shared among employees at the airport. Apparently the manufacturers then had to admit that in “testing mode” the machines can save an image, but that’s supposed to be off for real use. There needs to be more protocols in place so we have the best possible ways to screen out bombers, without invading all personal privacy.
As I pack for a work trip tomorrow morning, this will be my first flight since these scanners were installed. I’m not looking forward to it.
Thanks for the heads up about skirts, Danielle, although it’s cold and damp here. So jeans are more likely!
Too funny—the captcha phrase is “showed47”
There is a psychological change in us when we give ourselves over to such processes. It dehumanizes us.
It isn’t like going to the dr. to care for our health…it is turning our bodies over for inspection by “authorities” to make sure others aren’t hurt by us in return for the “guarantee” that others will do the same.
Aren’t we are forgetting that there are no guarantees in life. We need to get over that idea immediately in order to be of any use to God.
Here’s how it goes: It’s the “Let’s Make a Deal” game. You show this third party your naked body and I will show them mine. THEY and only THEY will have the authority to “assure” both of us that we are “safe” to be around. “Oh the humanity!”
In doing this, we are catering to the fears of men, not serving God. We are losing oour freedoms because we aren’t willing to take a bullet or a bomb in the name of freedom. We want to feel safe while we give more and more of our humanity away. Truth is, we will never feel safe when we give away our freedom.
Why do we so easily turn over our freedom? It is our of fear that we won’t get something we want or that we’ll lose something we think belongs to us. Our own bodies are God’s and his alone. We must treat them that way, always or we forget who owns us.
Why do we so easily turn over our freedom? FEAR. It is fear, that we won’t get something we want or that we’ll lose something we think belongs to us, which causes us to act this way. Our own bodies are God’s and his alone. We must treat them that way, always, lest we forget who owns us.
What about the risk of cancer from too many X-Rays?
What about the fact that most high schools now say, “If you enter this building, you consent to being searched”?
Then there’s the real invasion of strip-searching.
How do they handle people in wheelchairs?
the choices are a security person seeing your full body or newspaper photographers seeing it in bits and pieces. unfortunately, i come from a place where suicide bombers have far too often fostered upon us the images of strewn body parts in the streets - much more immodest.
i am quite certain that the catholic church’s affirmation of the value of life does not apply just to unborn babies, but to living people as well, and that modesty takes a back seat thereof.
Are you all this paranoid? yes, it’s hard to go through security at airports and yes, it seems rather inconvient. But, what your alternative? Asking if any of the passangers on the plan have a bomb, gun, knife or any other weapon or device for foulplay and if they do, to kindly hand it over before entering the aircraft!?!?! Privacy is infringed upon to ensure safety, that’s just a facet of life. Do you think it’s an affront to privacy when an officer asks a DUI driver if he’s been drinking this evening, or is the officer trying to provide a safe enviroment for all drivers? If you suddenly fainted of heat exausion or something in a mall or store and a man came over and removed/loosened your clothes to perform CPR, saved your life, would you thank him or slap him and say something like, “You infringed upon my private rights!” You cant have your cake and eat it too. It may not be completely perfect or good, but it’s the best we can do to avoid a worse outcome.
@ Cori: In that case, we should never have sex with our spouses right? And we should force doctors to conduct exams with 5 sweaters and a coat on us, right? If our bodies are God’s and God’s alone. We should all wear shapeless, body suits that are three layers deep and only show our hands and feet. Does that sound Ideal?
and our spouses should never see us in the buff either, ever. We should wear lots of layers around them too
johnny that was hilarious. be my fb friend. www.facebook.com/corihyland
I thought Danielle was being a tad bit paranoid myself. Since I don’t usually think of her as someone who over-reacts easily, I ran a Google image search for “tsa full body scan.” Whoa! Those are way more graphic images than I expected. I try to dress in a way that is modern and fitted, but not clingy. Only my husband gets to see my shape quite like that, and I don’t know how I feel about it now. Thanks for giving me something to think about again, Danielle.
I just googled them and it doesnt look too bad, it DOES look creepy!!!!! those arent sexual pics, their freaky pics!!! is that how all TSA people see us? Regardless, i stand by my first statement, for all those who disagree, take a train next time : )
Johnny, I’m a conspiracy freak. Let’s just get that out of the way right off the bat. So, when you say “train,” I immediately think “cattle car.”
Seriously though, this is about us holding our government accountable to give us better information on what’s REALLY going on, rather than taking these opportunities to fear-monger us our of our God-given rights over our own bodies.
Actually, this is more about being willing to do our own homework, sharing it with our friends and relatives, and telling the government to leave us alone. “We like our freedoms, thanks, though.”
Looking at statistics, we’ve never been highly likely to be blown up on a plane or anywhere. This is an illusion. There just aren’t THAT many people who want to die for their beliefs…including Catholics.
Everything is all turned around for no good reason: Pro-aborts trying to make women scared of babies. Government playing God, telling people what they can and can’t do…when we are, in fact, the ones who grant them the power to do so.
Perhaps we should just stay home more. Maybe we should get a motor coach and be with our families instead of being the jet-setting Americans we’ve become. Maybe God is trying to tell us to change our lifestyles.
Hey, a bunch of us homeschoolers took our kids to the American Airlines museum in Dallas yesterday. My husband’s mother worked for AA for 20 years. My father was a pilot (he bought a Cessna the day I was born) and my mother worked as an AA stewardess in the 50’s.
Planes are great, but to have to go through all of this to fly on one…there has to be another way.
Still waiting for your FB friendship, Johnny!!
Gordon Brown is a traitor to his country.
In Britain if you are asked to go through one of the scanners you must comply. If you refuse you will be barred from flying and your name will be kept on a list. Guilty before you fly. You are not given the opportunity to have a pat down.
The terrorists have scarred the not properly elected Prime Minister (what a joke) in to forcing civilised human beings in to getting there naked bodies photo graphed and looked at in detail by anyone who is TRAINED. Have these perverts been vetted or are they on the sex offenders list. I bet all the Trained individuals are men.
A Doctor is the only other man i would willingly let look at my wife’s naked body for medical reasons not some floor cleaner who applied for a job as pervert. Looking for bombs or staring at naked woman all day. What a job to have. Not having to pay for porn but also getting paid to look at it. I spoke to a friend at an air port and he told me that the images are kept for an hour before they are deleted. Just encase something happens on the plane they can then go back and have another look at the porn. So all this “the images aren’t stored in anyway and are deleted straight away” is complete rubbish!
In order for myself and family to have a nice holiday in the sun I am expected to let my wife expose herself to a complete stranger.
I didn’t marry a slag. Porn stars have a choice to get photo graphed, our wife’s and children don’t. Until these Skandalis machines are destroyed I am stuck in this country for a holiday. To drive to a hot country with a young family is unfair on them.
The dignity of our loved ones has been thrown away just because of some mud hut dwellers go boo !!!
Do you think Winston Churchill would have aloud his loved ones to expose there genitals to strangers just so they could go on holiday.
Get some Genitals Brown. Don’t jump on the first band wagon that they say it will stop terrorists. This last attack would still of happened even if he had gone through a scanner.
I served in the Army for my family and friends protection. Now my Supposed Leader is making them strip in front of anyone deemed TRAINED.
Disgusting behaviour from a supposed leader of men.
Bend over Britain all is lost.
PS.funny how the shares in these machines are on the up. Some one is making a lot of money out this.
Post a Comment
By submitting this form, you give The National Catholic Register permission to publish this comment. Comments will be published at our discretion, and may be edited for clarity and length. For best formatting, please limit your response to one paragraph and don't hit "enter" to force line breaks.