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Naked airport scanners coming soon
By ALTHIA RAJ - SUN MEDIA, National Bureau
OTTAWA – Transport Minister John Baird is set to announce later today that <span style="font-weight: bold">Canadians will soon be asked to go through virtual strip search scanners at major airports</span>.
La Presse reported Tuesday that the scanners <span style="font-weight: bold">will be placed in nine airports, including Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Halifax.</span>
The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) announced plans to purchase seven $200,000 scanners last spring.
The agency implemented a pilot study at the Kelowna International airport last year after Transport Canada identified “passenger body-worn threats ... as a major threat to aviation security.”
The Nigerian man who nearly blew up a passenger plane flying into Detroit on Christmas day was wearing explosives undetected by metal scanners.
<span style="font-weight: bold">Britain and the Netherlands have announced plans to begin using the body scanners</span>, which are already in use in some American airports.
The scanners use millimeter wave technology to see through passengers’ clothing.
CATSA says the machines are less intrusive than a pat down and should be less time consuming.
But privacy advocates say the scanners are “too invasive.”
"<span style="font-weight: bold">It sees through the fabric. It can definitely see your genitals</span>," Micheal Vonn, the policy director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, told Sun Media last year.
CATSA’s own conclusions from the Kelowna pilot study showed the machines didn’t meet expectations.
The report, obtained by Sun Media through Access to Information, notes the scanners took more time to process travellers than a regular pat-down and left blind spots over the head and feet.
[email protected]
By ALTHIA RAJ - SUN MEDIA, National Bureau
OTTAWA – Transport Minister John Baird is set to announce later today that <span style="font-weight: bold">Canadians will soon be asked to go through virtual strip search scanners at major airports</span>.
La Presse reported Tuesday that the scanners <span style="font-weight: bold">will be placed in nine airports, including Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Halifax.</span>
The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) announced plans to purchase seven $200,000 scanners last spring.
The agency implemented a pilot study at the Kelowna International airport last year after Transport Canada identified “passenger body-worn threats ... as a major threat to aviation security.”
The Nigerian man who nearly blew up a passenger plane flying into Detroit on Christmas day was wearing explosives undetected by metal scanners.
<span style="font-weight: bold">Britain and the Netherlands have announced plans to begin using the body scanners</span>, which are already in use in some American airports.
The scanners use millimeter wave technology to see through passengers’ clothing.
CATSA says the machines are less intrusive than a pat down and should be less time consuming.
But privacy advocates say the scanners are “too invasive.”
"<span style="font-weight: bold">It sees through the fabric. It can definitely see your genitals</span>," Micheal Vonn, the policy director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, told Sun Media last year.
CATSA’s own conclusions from the Kelowna pilot study showed the machines didn’t meet expectations.
The report, obtained by Sun Media through Access to Information, notes the scanners took more time to process travellers than a regular pat-down and left blind spots over the head and feet.
[email protected]
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