RDU's new scanners see down to the skin

Before you board your next flight at Raleigh-Durham International Airport, a federal security officer might ask permission to peek inside your clothes.

There's no need to unzip.

The newest layer in airport security is a full-body scanner that peers through layers of clothing for an intimate, down-to-the-skin look at your body.

The Transportation Security Administration has installed body scanners at passenger checkpoints in 15 airports this year -- including RDU's new Terminal 2. By the end of 2009, 120 scanners will be in operation at dozens of airports.

TSA says the machines create three-dimensional video images by using harmless electromagnetic waves that bounce off the body. The resulting pictures show the passenger's skin, and dense objects such as a harmless cell phone or a hidden weapon.

The body scan is offered as an alternative to a manual pat-down for travelers who are tapped at random to receive extra screening.

"This is technology that we're testing to further enhance security," said TSA spokesman Jon Allen, based in Atlanta. "This technology holds a lot of promise to be able to detect objects that are concealed under layers of clothing, and we can detect those objects without any physical contact."

TSA says the same scanner technology is used in a few federal and local courthouses, and at airports in Asia, Mexico and Europe.

The American Civil Liberties Union has criticized the new security technology as a "virtual strip-search" that intrudes on passengers' privacy.

"Nobody should be required to parade naked in order to board an airplane," said Barry Steinhardt, who heads the ACLU's technology and liberty program, based in New York.

Some RDU travelers feel the same way.

"It is an invasion of privacy," said Charity Bryant, 23, of Raleigh, as she prepared to board a flight. "I'm pretty sure they have more methods of checking to see what you do have under your clothes, without having to do all that."

Her friend Lauren Hodge, 20, of Durham agreed.

"Why can't they stick with the pat-down?" Hodge said.

Innovate or risk attack

David Schanzer, a Duke University public policy professor who heads the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security, said the TSA admits that it is not as effective as it should be, so it must keep improving its security measures.

"The enemy knows what our capabilities are, and they will adapt to that and find new ways to get their things through," Schanzer said in an interview from his office. "If we don't innovate our technologies, they will catch up to us eventually."

TSA says the body scan takes about 40 seconds.

The passenger steps into a special glass booth. Two antennae revolve around the passenger's body, emitting beams of radio-frequency energy. The radio waves penetrate the clothing to reflect off the skin.

A security officer in a nearby room studies a rotating, three-dimensional video image of the body and looks for dense, concealed objects.

The officer reports by radio either that the image is clear or that there is something to be checked further -- such as an object in the person's pocket.

Allen would not discuss the degree of physical detail captured in the body scans. But he provided low-resolution sample images that showed clear outlines of breasts and brassiere snaps, along with details of male and female gender.

Some RDU travelers blanched when they saw the TSA pictures. A few criticized the technology, and a few more said they would find a pat-down less intrusive.

But most of the 20 travelers who spoke with a reporter said they believed the government is acting to keep them safe.