DESPITE INSISTING that body image scans taken by security machines could not be recorded or stored, authorities in the US have now admitted to storing tens of thousands of such pictures.
US authorities caused a flurry of protests when they unveiled plans to use new security technology in airports, which has been likened to a “digital strip search”. Critics of the scans have said that they invade passengers’ privacy, but these claims were dismissed.
The US Transportation Security Administration issued a statement last year saying that “scanned images cannot be stored or recorded.”
However, it has now emerged that the authorities have been saving tens of thousands of images collected through the scanning procedure. The number of saved images from a security checkpoint in one Florida courthouse alone amounted to 35,314 intimate pictures.
Plans to bring the scanners into operation in all major US airports were announced two weeks ago.
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