EU scraps “naked” body scanners, promises more manual frisking
The Daily Mail (UK) reports,
The last remaining full-body X-ray airport scanners are to be scrapped within weeks.
The security systems, which have been tested at air terminals since 2009, scan through passengers’ clothes, creating a detailed ghost-like image of the naked body. The scan is then viewed by security staff.
Critics said the machines invaded passengers’ privacy and the radiation they generate raised the risk of cancer. Some Muslim groups also refused to walk through them on religious grounds. . . .
The scanners will be replaced with ‘privacy-friendly’ machines which use radio-frequency technology.
Manchester airport, which is the last in Britain to be still using ‘naked’ scanners, said it will now have to spend £1.1million to replace them with the new devices.
It will also have to hire dozens of extra security staff to frisk passengers manually.