Word to the wise for our security officers

[Basil]

BBC News - 'No scan, no flight' at Heathrow and Manchester

Some passengers at Heathrow and Manchester airports will have to go through full body scanners before boarding their flights under new rules.
It is now compulsory for people selected for a scan to take part, or they will not be allowed to fly.

BBC News - Female suicide bomber kills dozens in Iraq

At least 41 people have been killed by a female suicide bomber in north-east Baghdad, an interior ministry spokesman has said.
The woman detonated an explosives vest among a group of pilgrims making the journey to Karbala, 80km from Baghdad.
Twelve months ago, 32 pilgrims were killed by a female suicide bomber near Baghdad.

[MagnusP]

I loved this:

"The image generated by the body scanner cannot be stored or captured"

. . . in the article illustrated with (you guessed it) a captured image.

[Checkboard]

The image generated by the body scanner cannot be stored or captured

... unless the operator possesses a rare high-tech gadget, such as a camera equipped mobile phone.

... and wouldn't be tempted with "near naked" photos of any passing celeb.

[Bruce Wayne]

Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said in the immediate future only a small proportion of airline passengers would be selected for scanning.

In a written statement to the House of Commons, he said: "If a passenger is selected for scanning, and declines, they will not be permitted to fly."

So then is this a statute law ? If not, then how could it be enforced ?

If a passenger declines, they are then being subject to financial penalty and restriction of freedom of movement without fair trial and not subject to statue law ?

perhaps one of the Pprune legal specialists could provide input ?

[bugged on the right]

Compulsory Scans LHR MAN

At MAN and LHR, when selected for the new xray see through scans you have to submit or not fly. How can they do this? I will pay for my own positioning from the UK back to Europe rather than risk this and when the holiday comes up in September it will be Eurostar for the first leg to CDG or FRA. If they put the machines at St Pancras I will travel on the ferry and if they put them at the ferry terminal I will hire a rowboat.

[bugged on the right]

What efficient moderation

Wow that was quick, a good 10 minutes of airplay on my previous post. An hour on Bruce's.
I would have thought this subject would be very important for aircrews to know about. In light of the way UK war on terror operatives single out airline crews for special treatment I wonder how my colleagues will enjoy being put in the box every time they pass through. I don't believe a word uttered by any flavoured politician and when they say that there are no health issues associated with these scans I simply don't believe it.
I have had enough and will actually enjoy getting out of this sad industry when I retire.

[AircraftOperations]

What's the problem? If you have nothing to hide, then why worry?

You talk about the operator taking photos of "celebrities". The operator can't see the passengers, so doesn't know who the images are of. I would also suspect that any operators will be searched before they are allowed to start a session on the screen.

[Skipness One Echo]

What's the problem? If you have nothing to hide, then why worry?

'cos there's a Security bloke staring at my nob on camera?
Bad enough some women ( most of whom aren't terrorists ) are reluctant to show their shoulders in public but now we've got a machine that gets their their tits out for strangers to see at the airport. The fact this new machine wouldn't have stopped Captain Underpants from setting his gentials alight on Christmas day hasn't stopped the "Something Must Be (Seen to) Be Done" brigade getting up to speed.

How long before someone famous has their image sent to the tabloids as they have something medical to hide?

[lexxity]

Like I said in another thread, if they were selecting the "right" passenger then I don't think there will be a problem, but what's the guessing that they won't select based on known profiles, but it'll be yer 80 year old granny, or as Bugged said it'll be the aircrews who get put in the box every time. We already know that at some places aircrews are picked on and made to under go the full procedure EVERY time they pass through security, even if they don't beep they are "selected" for extra checks.

[Bruce Wayne]

What's the problem? If you have nothing to hide, then why worry?

the point is, and hence my prior questions is that it is in effect placing security personel in position of power, which may or may not be mandated within the law, outside judicial review and provides the capacity to place punitive damages on crew and passengers at will and with no recourse.

- "Sorry mate, you've been selected to be scanned"
- "Not again! look that's the the third time this week and i'm in uniform. there's a backlog at the scanner and pushback will be delayed if i wait."
- "Right, you're declining. I'm prohibiting you access to the departure area. You cannot fly"

risk is multi-faceted. chasing the policy du jour for political point scoring does not increase safety...

Heathrow: Flight chaos after IRA threats: Heathrow and Gatwick shut in new alerts - News - The Independent

[emjanssen]

Security is a trade of. I don't think that the body-scan is smart trade-off.
It's a waste of money and resources and besides that recent scientific studies question if they are safe for our health.

RARE Online - Terahertz Radiation Increases Genomic Instability in Human Lymphocytes


Technology Review: Blogs: arXiv blog: How Terahertz Waves Tear Apart DNA

We are also talking about liberty and basic human rights here. We are doing exactly what the terrorist want us to do. Politicians react without thinking.

A Body-scanner doesn't make us much safer.

The money could be spent so much better. We are talking big numbers.

Did you know that a software algorithm is analyzing the scan?
Removing human intuition doesn't seem smart to me.
We could open up the present security system.

Grtz
emjanssen

[Donkey497]

Suffering Catfish, not this terahertz rips apart DNA b*ll*cks again!!!

Enough, Already!

How many times will this scaremongering 5h1t be posted?

Give it a rest, will you.

As soon as people start evaporating when they go into these booths, I will concede that there may be a problem with it, but until then can we stay rational?

[ExXB]

Donkey, please re-read your post

And tell me who is being irrational.

Thank you.

I, personally, object to these things because they are very, very expensive and they don't work.

Just like just about every 'tech' solution to the 'terrorist' problem.

[chrisbl]

I would rather risk my DNA being "torn apart" by terrahertz waves than it being torn apart by a bomb at 35,000ft.

[Pax Vobiscum]

chrisbl

But the TeraHertz scanner does not significantly reduce the (extremely remote) possibility of being atomised by a terrorist at 35,000 feet. It wouldn't have detected the 'pants on fire' bomber, even if he'd been one of the minority selected for scanning.

As ExXB points out, it's merely very expensive security theatre. We'd be better off buying the 'dowsing rod' bomb detector that was being flogged to the Iraqis - at least it would be cheaper. Whatever happened to "keep calm and carry on"?

[rmac]

Methinks that someone here is worried about the fact that his kn0b is a little small will become public

I am all for any technology that speed things up for chrissake, can they also hurry up and bring on walk through technology that means I will not have to empty my bag, keep my liquids in small bottles in a plastic bag and take off my shoes, watch and belt.......its getting really tedious...

If they promise, passive, unobtrusive and low-hassle technology they can feel free to look up my @rse if they really want to , ......but that could just be because I don't have any size anxiety issues ...(kn0b, not @rse that is )

[Avman]

I predict viagra sales to go up (pardon the pun)

[call100]

So much rubbish spouted about the whole thing. Thinking that there will be groups of security personnel surrounding the screen looking at your sad little bits says more about your state of mind than theirs.
How many images a day do you think they will be checking? I bet some of you would get relief in the 4 seconds or so the pic is on the screen. So you think they must!!
You put up with someone invading your personal space and rubbing your body, but when it comes to viewing an unrecognisable image of you and speeding your throughput you moan...
I bet none of you have WiFi or mobile phones just in case it disintegrates your body bit by bit!!
I only hope they put them on the Staff entrances to speed the process up.
Yes, the terrorists have won.....so what else are we to do? My solution is to fly as little as possible, after all the whole process is now a chore, not just the security bit, certainly not enjoyable..
Have a good flight...

[Carrier]

Matt on travel: airport security

Matt on travel: airport security - Telegraph

[hotmetal]

What happens if you are not a resident of the UK and refuse to go through the new scanner? Will you be able to stay indefinitely in the UK?