Thread: TSA unveils 'generic' body scans

TSA Begins Testing New Advanced Imaging Technology Software

Press Release
February 1, 2011
Contact:
TSA Public Affairs
(571) 227-2829

TSA to begin testing new Advanced Imaging Technology Software at select U.S. Airports to further enhance passenger privacy

Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will begin testing new software on its advanced imaging technology (AIT) machines that enhances privacy by eliminating passenger-specific images and instead auto-detects potential threat items and indicates their location on a generic outline of a person, TSA Administrator John Pistole announced today. TSA will test the new software at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport (LAS) beginning today, February 1, and at Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International (ATL) and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) in the coming days.

"We are always looking for new technology and procedures that will both enhance security while strengthening privacy protections," Pistole said. "Testing this new software will help us confirm test results that indicate it can provide the same high level of security as current advanced imaging technology units while further enhancing the privacy protections already in place."

The new software will automatically detect potential threat items and indicate their location on a generic outline of a person that will appear on a monitor attached to the AIT unit. As with the current version of AIT, the areas identified as containing potential threats will require additional screening. The generic outline will be identical for all passengers. If no potential threat items are detected, an "OK" will appear on the monitor with no outline.

By eliminating the passenger-specific image associated with the current version of AIT, a separate TSA officer will no longer be required to view the image in a remotely-located viewing room. Through removing this step of the process, AIT screening will become more efficient, expanding the throughput capability of the technology.

TSA worked with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science & Technology Directorate (S&T) and private industry to develop the software, and began testing it at the TSA Systems Integration Facility in the fall of 2010.

AIT safely screens passengers without physical contact for both metallic and non-metallic threats, including weapons and explosives. Currently, there are nearly 500 imaging technology units at 78 airports nationwide, with additional units planned for deployment this year. The new software is being tested on millimeter wave AIT units currently in airports, with plans to test similar software on backscatter units in the future.

To learn more, visit www.tsa.gov/ait.

Transportation Security Administration | U.S. Department of Homeland Security

http://www.tsa.gov/press/releases/2011/0201.shtm

Let me guess, detects all your piercings even if you've taken the jewelry out, can measure rebellious or smutty thoughts, can tell if you're a member of the Tea Party or Oath Keepers etc.

Originally Posted by BetsyRoss

Let me guess, detects all your piercings even if you've taken the jewelry out, can measure rebellious or smutty thoughts, can tell if you're a member of the Tea Party or Oath Keepers etc.

Actually it will do away with the "x-ray" image of the person and instead display a generic outline of a person.

The new software will automatically detect potential threat items and indicate their location on a generic outline of a person that will appear on a monitor attached to the AIT unit. As with the current version of AIT, the areas identified as containing potential threats will require additional screening. The generic outline will be identical for all passengers.

TSA unveils 'generic' body scans

Updated 5m ago
By Roger Yu, USA TODAY

The Transportation Security Administration began testing on Tuesday new software that will transmit more modest images of travelers' bodies on some of its controversial airport screening machines.

The new technology, introduced at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport for a 45- to 60-day trial, is designed to detect potential explosives and show them on a blurred "generic outline" of a person projected a monitor that can be seen by screeners and travelers. The outline will be identical for all passengers.

The TSA will introduce the software at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International and Ronald Reagan Washington National in the next few days.

"Testing this new software will help us confirm test results that indicate it can provide the same high level of security as current advanced imaging technology units while further enhancing the privacy protections already in place," TSA Administrator John Pistole said.

Tests on the software — which is only for scanners that use wave technology and not X-ray machines — come after an outcry and a failed boycott last year by travelers who complained the machines present a graphic, naked image of them on a screen viewed by TSA security personnel.

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Nearly 500 scanners that can peer through clothing with wave or X-ray technology have been installed at 78 airports nationwide. Travelers who refuse to pass through them must undergo pat-down searches.

The wave machines project radio frequency energy in millimeter waves over the body to produce the image. The TSA said it hopes to test similar technology for the machines that use X-ray technology in the near future.

The TSA, which has been testing the software internally since fall, said it hopes to placate the public and improve worker efficiency.

Currently, a TSA screener has to sit in a booth to watch the private body images. The screener then radios the operator of the machine in the screening line with the scan's findings. If the software works properly, the TSA will be able to remove personnel from the private booths.

Body scanners
Airports with full-body scanning machines that use wave-imaging technology:



Albuquerque

Atlanta

Baltimore/Washington

Cleveland

Chicago Midway

Denver

Dallas/Fort Worth

Dayton

Detroit Metro

Fort Wayne

Fresno

Harrisburg

Honolulu

Houston Bush and Hobby

Indianapolis

Jacksonville

Los Angeles/Ontario

Las Vegas

Melbourne

Miami

Milwaukee

Minneapolis/St. Paul

Nashville

Newark Liberty

New Orleans

Palm Beach

Palm Springs

Philadelphia

Raleigh-Durham

Richmond

Rochester, N.Y.

Washington National

Sarasota Bradenton

St. Petersburg-Clearwater

San Francisco

Salt Lake City

Tampa

Toledo

Tulsa

Source: TSA

Travelers identified by the software as carrying potential threats will require additional screening. If no threat items are detected, an "OK" will appear on the monitor.

Allowing travelers to see the monitor will give the public "greater confidence" in the system and serve as a deterrent, Pistole said.

Pistole told Congress last year TSA has had problems with false-positive alarms in software testing. But he told reporters Tuesday that they've been eliminated at "a sufficient level." "We've applied rigorous standards," he said, without elaborating.

Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said the software is "a filtering technique" that does little to eliminate privacy concerns. "The bigger news may be the decision to drop the plan for remote viewing. And keep in mind that filters can be enabled and disabled by the operator. Perhaps TSA will place 'no peeking' signs over the display screen."

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/ ... 2_ST_N.htm

Originally Posted by BetsyRoss

Let me guess, detects all your piercings even if you've taken the jewelry out, can measure rebellious or smutty thoughts, can tell if you're a member of the Tea Party or Oath Keepers etc.

I'd support it if it actually worked. However we have millions of liberal threats passing through these scanners everyday showing clearly that they are not picking up the the biggest threats.