'Naked' scanners removed, air travelers get back a little dignity...

[Gman]

http://now.msn.com/backscatter-x-ray...-from-airports

It's a sad day for airport exhibitionists. Backscatter X-ray machines that produce naked images are being removed from U.S. airports because their manufacturer couldn't write software to make passenger images less revealing. The changes were mandated after privacy advocates sued the TSA in 2010, claiming the scanners violated the law and were equivalent to a "physically invasive strip search." The machines will be replaced by units from another company that don't use X-rays to peek under your clothes. Now if you want to flash someone at an airport, you'll have to go old school with a trench coat and willingness to be arrested on the spot.

It's about time. Shouldn't have happened in the first place.

[Guylee]

Fine with me. After my last flight, I'm more worried about the plane falling apart and crashing than I am someone taking it over with a nail file.

[ChunkyMonkey]

How many billions wasted, millions citizens pissed off, and terrorists caught from this?

[nynco]

Fine with me. After my last flight, I'm more worried about the plane falling apart and crashing than I am someone taking it over with a nail file.

I WHOLE HEARTEDLY AGREE... Thanks to airline deregulation paid for by the airline industry, most major maintenance is performed outside of the US. Sorry, but I don't trust outside countries to service our own airlines. It won't be their people that die and the regulations they follow overseas.... well, what are those? Thanks Bush...

[merl]

nope, naked scanners still there.

The ones that are slow and irradiate you are going away. to be replaced by faster ones using microwaves instead of xrays.

[islandermyk]

Fine with me. After my last flight, I'm more worried about the plane falling apart and crashing than I am someone taking it over with a nail file.

did we get on one that had speed tape holding a panel together

[nynco]

did we get on one that had speed tape holding a panel together

Heck the first plane I jumped out of had ductape all over the thing. Get me off this plane... lol

[silentshooter]

nope, naked scanners still there.

The ones that are slow and irradiate you are going away. to be replaced by faster ones using microwaves instead of xrays.

Well they are not naked scanners in that no longer will a person be in a room out of site looting at an image of you naked. The machines that are staying show just a generic outline of a person and any so called hot spots that it thinks might have contraband so that a TSA agent can feel you up in that spot

[Dave]

Rather be scanned than fondled to be honest. Last few times I flew out of DIA I seemed to get the 300 pound guy who was sweating from just walking from stool he was on and proceeded to take the whole pat down thing way too seriously. Pat down is the term, not grab and jiggle.

[Jer]

My wife and I opted out every time we traveled. From what we've researched there are two basic versions of those things and one is questionable as far as exposure to harmful rays and the other is a question mark. No thanks. We opted out and made them get a male and female TSA agent to manually search us... IE, free grope. I was amazed at how many people were fine with going through those things in the name of saving time or going along to get along or doing what they're told or whatever. In a little way I feel like we did our part to make things just that much more difficult on the TSA which may or may not have helped. Glad they came to their sense and now we just need to work on the rest of the TSA BS they're cramming down our throats.