Body Scanners being trialled in Australia
Thread Starter
Body Scanners being trialled in Australia
I love how there is no mention of the amount of radiation these thing are emitting. Flying is soon to become a radiation hazard the way it is going.
Body scanner trials at Sydney Airport | See-through safety`
Body scanner trials at Sydney Airport | See-through safety`
Body scanning is about to be trialled at Sydney Airport despite reservations in Europe, writes Clive Dorman.
Domestic and international security processing times at airports are expected to increase as Australian authorities trial body scanners in use in the US but rejected this month in Europe as unreliable.
The federal minister for transport, Anthony Albanese, won't rule out the possibility that passenger security charges will increase, putting pressure on airfares, if the technology is introduced as expected late this year or early next year.
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However, Albanese has guaranteed there will be no repeat of the privacy breaches suffered by American travellers with the new scanning technology, dubbed the "nude-o-scope" by one online travel forum.
The US Transportation Security Administration was forced to introduce a software fix to prevent security officers breaching the privacy of women using the system, one version of which, the L3 ProVision millimetre-wave, is now being trialled by the federal Department of Infrastructure at Sydney Airport.
A second trial at Melbourne Airport is due to follow the Sydney testing but privacy may be the least of the system's problems.
In a trial at Hamburg Airport this month, German federal police said they would not use the system until major software changes were made.
They found the system created false alarms for more than 70 per cent of passengers processed.
The scanners were said to have been confused by layers of clothing, boots, zip fasteners and even pleats. In 10 per cent of cases the passenger's posture set them off.
However, Albanese says different software is being used for the L3 system in the Australian trial. He says no contractual decisions have been made on which system will be used at Australia's eight international airports.
"All security leads to a slowing up of the system but we need to get the security right," he says.
"We're confident that any change will be minimal but that's one of the reasons we're conducting the trial in both Sydney and Melbourne. You do that so you can get the systems right."
Albanese says it is too soon to say whether consumers would have to pay more for airport security, given contracts were yet to be signed. "There is cost to all security at airports," he says.
The passenger security upgrade is part of a $200 million package that includes behaviour observation training, information sharing between security agencies, an increase in the number of ETD (explosive trace detection) devices at airports, an increased use of dogs at airports and increased cargo screening.
"It's a matter of constantly being vigilant and taking the correct advice," Albanese says. "There's no single initiative that you can do to make security absolute."
He says the government has engaged the federal privacy commissioner, Timothy Pilgrim, to prevent privacy breaches by any new airport scanning system. "We took into account what I believe are legitimate privacy concerns," Albanese says.
"The image that is generated will be the same for all passengers. There's a generic male outline and a generic female outline ... The images won't be able to be stored or shared in any way, so we've addressed those issues very clearly."
Read more: Body scanner trials at Sydney Airport | See-through safety`
Domestic and international security processing times at airports are expected to increase as Australian authorities trial body scanners in use in the US but rejected this month in Europe as unreliable.
The federal minister for transport, Anthony Albanese, won't rule out the possibility that passenger security charges will increase, putting pressure on airfares, if the technology is introduced as expected late this year or early next year.
Advertisement: Story continues below
However, Albanese has guaranteed there will be no repeat of the privacy breaches suffered by American travellers with the new scanning technology, dubbed the "nude-o-scope" by one online travel forum.
The US Transportation Security Administration was forced to introduce a software fix to prevent security officers breaching the privacy of women using the system, one version of which, the L3 ProVision millimetre-wave, is now being trialled by the federal Department of Infrastructure at Sydney Airport.
A second trial at Melbourne Airport is due to follow the Sydney testing but privacy may be the least of the system's problems.
In a trial at Hamburg Airport this month, German federal police said they would not use the system until major software changes were made.
They found the system created false alarms for more than 70 per cent of passengers processed.
The scanners were said to have been confused by layers of clothing, boots, zip fasteners and even pleats. In 10 per cent of cases the passenger's posture set them off.
However, Albanese says different software is being used for the L3 system in the Australian trial. He says no contractual decisions have been made on which system will be used at Australia's eight international airports.
"All security leads to a slowing up of the system but we need to get the security right," he says.
"We're confident that any change will be minimal but that's one of the reasons we're conducting the trial in both Sydney and Melbourne. You do that so you can get the systems right."
Albanese says it is too soon to say whether consumers would have to pay more for airport security, given contracts were yet to be signed. "There is cost to all security at airports," he says.
The passenger security upgrade is part of a $200 million package that includes behaviour observation training, information sharing between security agencies, an increase in the number of ETD (explosive trace detection) devices at airports, an increased use of dogs at airports and increased cargo screening.
"It's a matter of constantly being vigilant and taking the correct advice," Albanese says. "There's no single initiative that you can do to make security absolute."
He says the government has engaged the federal privacy commissioner, Timothy Pilgrim, to prevent privacy breaches by any new airport scanning system. "We took into account what I believe are legitimate privacy concerns," Albanese says.
"The image that is generated will be the same for all passengers. There's a generic male outline and a generic female outline ... The images won't be able to be stored or shared in any way, so we've addressed those issues very clearly."
Read more: Body scanner trials at Sydney Airport | See-through safety`
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Off to the DAME to get a letter forbidding any further radiation outside the huge dose we get flying. I am not ever going to submit to one of those scanner. I am happy to be manually searched, but I will not have my body exposed to any more radiation.
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I agree. Enough is enough!!
The whole thing is a complete joke anyway, especially for crew. However, I will also refuse outright any further damage to my health by unnecessary radiation with their new draconian toy.
Another step for Australia 'the police state'!
The whole thing is a complete joke anyway, especially for crew. However, I will also refuse outright any further damage to my health by unnecessary radiation with their new draconian toy.
Another step for Australia 'the police state'!
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Don't buy that BS about the radiation being a small amount. The problem is that your skin absorbs most of it and that's where the cancers will start to develop.
Airport body scanners deliver radiation dose 20 times higher than first thought | Mail Online
Scientists Question Safety Of New Airport Scanners : NPR
The dose from Compton backscatter screening. [Radiat Prot Dosimetry. 2011] - PubMed result
There's tons and tons of literature all over the internet about this. I am all for airport security but I think Canberra should be petitioned to halt its implementation before its long term effects are understood.
Airport body scanners deliver radiation dose 20 times higher than first thought | Mail Online
Scientists Question Safety Of New Airport Scanners : NPR
The dose from Compton backscatter screening. [Radiat Prot Dosimetry. 2011] - PubMed result
There's tons and tons of literature all over the internet about this. I am all for airport security but I think Canberra should be petitioned to halt its implementation before its long term effects are understood.
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These are reported to be millimetre-wave scanners. They are NOT the same as the backscatter xray scanners.
Millimetre wave radiation is NOT ionising radiation and CANNOT initiate cancer, unlike ionising radiation (of which xrays such as those used in backscatter scanners are one example).
Just lettin' ya know, that's all! Now on with the privacy debate.........
Millimetre wave radiation is NOT ionising radiation and CANNOT initiate cancer, unlike ionising radiation (of which xrays such as those used in backscatter scanners are one example).
Just lettin' ya know, that's all! Now on with the privacy debate.........
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I think being subjected to a millimeter-wave scanning would
be far more preferable than being felt up and groped by some
fat bogan bloke whose sexual preferences are either suss or
unknown.
be far more preferable than being felt up and groped by some
fat bogan bloke whose sexual preferences are either suss or
unknown.
If you think Australian security is a nightmare, try the US TSA!
I refuse the scanners out of principle, and they get pretty huffy when you opt out. In fact every time I have been put in the scanning line they do not tell you what it is for.
You need to ask them and no matter how polite you ask, you get attitude. You then must wait about 10 minutes until someone is available to frisk you. your hand luggage is left at the xray point for anyone to nick, and you're groped like a teenage boy is discovering the opposite sex for the first time.
Let's prey we don't go down this rediculous path hey!
I refuse the scanners out of principle, and they get pretty huffy when you opt out. In fact every time I have been put in the scanning line they do not tell you what it is for.
You need to ask them and no matter how polite you ask, you get attitude. You then must wait about 10 minutes until someone is available to frisk you. your hand luggage is left at the xray point for anyone to nick, and you're groped like a teenage boy is discovering the opposite sex for the first time.
Let's prey we don't go down this rediculous path hey!
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i won't be going through any scanner no matter what technology it uses.
at my age i don't even get groped by the missus anymore so looking forward
to the security check. just hope i don't get "too excited" i f you know what i mean (-:
at my age i don't even get groped by the missus anymore so looking forward
to the security check. just hope i don't get "too excited" i f you know what i mean (-:
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just hope i don't get "too excited" i f you know what i mean (-:
