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DUBLIN AIRPORT is to begin the trial of full-body security scanners later this year.
The 18-month-trial, which will be applied to staff areas only, will see users given the option to substitute the traditional security scan with passage through a full-body scanner.
The full-body unit will produce a mannequin-style silhouette of the user, identifying any individual part of their body which may require an additional search.
The idea behind the scanners is that by identifying any individual point where security staff will need to perform a manual search, the need for a full ‘pat-down’ search – which would take significantly longer – can be avoided, with queues therefore moving faster.
A spokesman for the Dublin Airport Authority stressed that no decision had been made on whether to use the scanners in the public areas of the airport, and that if such scanners were deployed for passengers’ use, that searches would still be optional.
“The image that the scanner would produce would be nothing like a picture of a naked person,” the spokesperson said. “It bears no resemblance whatsoever – in fact, the image is the same whether a man or a woman.”
The machinery being used displays its scanned image to the passenger as well as to the machine’s operator, but immediately deletes this image and does not keep it logged anywhere else.
The millimetre wave technology being used in the scanners is only “a fraction of the strength of the signal from a mobile phone”, and bounces off the body rather than penetrating it, the spokesman added.
Similar scanners are already used in other larger airports around the world, including in Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, where machines produce images similar to that displayed here.
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As a very frequent traveller, I have used the scanners in US airports and could care less to be honest. I’ve seen people more exposed in their photo albums on Facebook. The queues for the scanners are much quicker than the standard queues, the person instructing you how to stand can’t see the scan anyway (the images are monitored remotely) and it’s not like they’re going to discuss your naked form with anyone you know! In Schipol recently, I was subjected to a pat-down that would have been classed as a sexual assault in the real world and I was livid about it. I’d rather have been offered the option of the scanner.
Guy in the xray could do with a Steak sandwich or two!
Great…NOT!!!… Dublin yet again are going to follow the example of London Airports it would seem… I personal have a problem with the level of intrusion and the general feeling of being treated like dirt that flying by plane has become. I am flying via London in a couple of weeks, but since I have now found out that this full-body scan is now mandatory there, I will no longer fly in our out of London unless it is my destination. As for the effectiveness of these scanners (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millimeter_wave_scanner), I have serious doubts in general that any of this treatment like cattle is improving anyone’s safety.
Clearly you have something to hide, I think this system is great
1 question, bomb or scan?? Even drugs can be found so whats the problem.
Maybe I do. However what I have to hide is not going to bring down a plane, e.g. prosthetics including breast prostheses, and other medical equipment normally hidden, such as colostomy bags are all things that someone may not want the people around him/her to be aware of. I am sure you can think of a whole range of other things that are the private business of individuals and of no concern to airport authorities. However all these things will be viewed and displayed by this machine with little if in any improvement to airport security.
love the belly button!
If the image is as per the picture above then i’d have no issue with this tbh as it’s not particularly invasive.
Id be more concerned with the potential radiation effects. Had a quick look through the literature… There is Very little peer reviewed information supporting it as non genotoxic- as claimed by manufacturers. May not be a concern for those who take a couple of flights a year but there could be legitimate concerns from frequent flyers with prolonged exposure to the technology.
Germany trialled these in Hamburg and the machines produced an staggering failure rate. 61% of pax passed through without a problem, 31% had to be padded down (hard). In 54% of cases a false alarm was recorded. Result: significant delays in processing passengers.
Germany has abandoned plans to use scanners at its airports and will not reconsider until the technology is more reliable and meets “high security standards,” interior minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said Wednesday
Stupid.
What bunch of sheeple we have become. These are dangerous microwaves. Seriously read into this a bit more. There have been many problems with this in America. Not least the TSA agent who shot his colleagues because they made jokes about the size of his penis after a training scan.
Are xray machines not cancerous? Do the guards hide behind lead walls like a nurse at the hospital?
@Bob – When I spoke to DAA earlier they were keen to stress that they’re not “x-ray machines”, in that their intensity is much lesser than a standard booth.
Yep, they are cancerous…No, guards not behind lead walls, just eating up the radiation like it’s good for them and getting cancer..From Chicago, TSA heads now have cancer from operating these type of machines.. http://healthland.time.com/2011/06/30/did-airport-scanners-give-boston-tsa-agents-cancer/ So, we’ve option A – groping and pat downs to make sure we’re not “dangerous” or option B – an invasive scan that will shower you in radiation..Just great…This is 1984 people…
@Fred (and Bob): The machines that TIME article refers to are a different type of ‘booth’-style scanner than is being considered in Dublin.
Jesus.These scanners are on TRAIL for 18 months in staff areas.Not been used in public areas.Which mean they are not coming in at dap untill ALL tests are carried out.What does it take for people to cop on.These are the times we live in.get used to it.
Looks like milimeter wave scanners only penetrate the clothes and are stopped by skin. So why not just tape a load of contraband to your leg, then wrap it in pigskin (the most common human analog from Mythbusters). Sorted.
Thank god for the Internet, giving people totally accurate and factual information.
Would be hilarious seeing Hugh Hefner pass through one off these the morning after…
Hh
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