3D airport body scanner labelled as “virtual strip search”

by Stevie Smith - Jun 23 2008, 10:57

A powerful new 3D scanning system set to be tested by security officials at Kelowna International Airport in Canada has come under attack from the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, which has slammed the device as “an abomination.”

New 3D body scanner to be tested in Canada at Kelowna International Airport. Image: L3 ProVision.

Already used in airports in Amsterdam, Moscow and Osaka, the revolutionary ProVision security technology is this week due to move through an initial seven-day testing phase in Kelowna.During this time travellers will be asked if they would be willing to pass through the scanner so that operators can view beneath their clothes for concealed weaponry or explosive devices. Sounding not unlike the process employed by the walk-through body scanner showcased in Paul Verhoeven’s 1990 science fiction movie Total Recall, which revealed concealed items imposed against the person’s skeleton, the full body-screening ProVision imaging device is able to peel away layers of clothing to reveal exactly what lies beneath. The scanning system works by employing millimetre wave technology, which is projected via low-level radio frequency energy over and around the passenger in order to produce a 3D image of the person and uncover weapons or explosives.Yet, despite its obvious worth and the fact that Canadian airport and security officials believe ProVision (when used in conjunction with conventional metal detector checks) will help create safer travel while reducing security processing delays for passengers, Micheal Vonn of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association is much more wary of the implications regarding personal privacy.According to Vonn, the association’s policy director, images produced by ProVision are “an abomination” insofar as they unveil explicit details amounting to little more than “a virtual strip search” that would likely leave most passengers “breathless” if they were able to view them. “Everything that is in and about your body will be screened, quote and unquote, for your safety,” said Vonn who is also concerned that the initial test phase is a precursor to mandatory usage. “The concept of consent is so slippery,” added Vonn in a Canada.com report, while also urging airline passengers in Kelowna to decline any request to help put ProVision through its paces. However, despite Vonn’s worries regarding the introduction of ProVision, Kelowna airport spokeswoman Jenelle Turpin said she found the imagery to be less revealing than she initially thought it would be after seeing the scanner’s results. “It gives an outline of underwear. It goes through clothes… When I actually saw it and how it’s set up, it’s really not that bad,” she offered while also stressing that the system maintains passenger privacy by deleting all images once the scan is complete. Further to that, the resulting 3D images are viewed in a separate room with the operator relaying anything suspicious back to the device attendant.

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travisSep 11th, 2009 - 19:12:32

This is going to far! where is our need for security in exchange for a loss of privacy going to end? How many terrorist actions have we witnessed in canada since 9/11? In the end these new actions effect us .... the citizens of this country, not terrorists. I ask anyone who disagrees to research how many hijacking of planes or terrorist actions carried out with planes have happened in canada. We can erode our right to privacy on a what if it happens here attitude, but in the end we will lose what made canada the country it was. Think about the last twenty years and the changes weve seen ie[ gun control, photo radar, red light cameras, green light speed cameras,passport and airport secuity changes, border control, charted flight one stop rule, manditory report of withdrawl of 10,000 dollars or more from a bank , roadside checks for alchol, roadside checks for registation and insurance, police running plates without infractions of the tsa , the list goes on. Individually some of these infractions into privacy and our rights dont seem bad but collectivly they don't not paint a picture of freedom and personal privacy that we want canada to be known for.

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3D airport body scanner labelled as “virtual strip search”

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