CONTROVERSIAL SCANNERS for airport security checks which would allow staff to view airline passengers’ bodies as though they were naked are being proposed by the European Commission.
The “millimetre wave technology” scanner can provide airport security staff with images that have been likened to images of naked shop dummies. It can tell the gender of a traveller. Members of the European Parliament have asked for a briefing on the system from transport commissioner Antonio Tajani, after complaints the scanners represented a gross invasion of personal privacy.
The purpose of the scanner is to highlight liquids or metal objects such as guns and knives. It can identify ceramic knives or plastic weapons and drugs, which current systems cannot. It would therefore speed up security checks.
The briefing from Mr Tajani is likely to take place in November.
Some MEPs including Ireland northwest’s Jim Higgins (FG, EPP-ED) said they had been supportive, but changed their minds. “It now appears that the machines show you totally naked,” he said.
Meanwhile, plans for a common system of airport charges across the EU at airports with passenger numbers over five million per year have been approved. The aim is to prevent popular airports from forcing extra charges on airlines.
