Full-Body Scanners Installed at Lindbergh Field
Workers at Lindbergh Field have begun installing the full-body scanners inside Terminal One.
Workers at Lindbergh Field have begun installing the full-body scanners inside Terminal One.
The scanners, which are being placed in 11 airports across the country by the end of the year, are funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Transportation officials will be demonstrating the technology in San Diego on Tuesday.
The scanners use low-level x-rays to detect any type of hidden weapons or explosives - metallic or non-metallic.
The machines allow security officials to look underneath the clothing of passengers, producing a three-dimensional black-and-white image that reveals detailed outlines of every body part. Screeners view the images from a remote, enclosed area.
In addition to Lindbergh Field, the scanners are or will be installed at airports in Los Angeles; San Jose; Oakland; Boston; Chicago; Cincinnati; Kansas City; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Columbus, Ohio; and Charlotte, N.C.
Even though the faces of passengers are blurred, some passenger rights advocates say the body scan could be too revealing and even upsetting to travelers.
The idea just doesn't sit right with Barbara Blackshear of Mission Valley. "I don't like the idea that anyone can just see through me and just see me," she said. "It really doesn't feel right."
Alvin Blackshear however said he feels the invasion of privacy is worth the end result. "I think it's a trade off essentially for better security," he said.
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