Millimeter Wave Detectors in the Airports
I just passed through the first Millimeter Wave scan machine. Color me unimpressed. Instead of talking about the potential privacy concern I want to express how it just doesn't work very well at all.
Today I was wearing somewhat baggy (aka comfortable) shorts and a white T-Shirt from shirt.woot.com. The lady in front of me was wearing a tanktop with a blouse over the top.
She stepped into the machine and waited for instructions. Basically you stand with your feet apart by about 2 feet and lift your hands above your head. The device scans both the front and back of you. You then step out and wait for clearance.
The lady in front of me was told, "Because your blouse has all those frills, we couldn't get a good read so I need to pat that area down." Yes, because her blouse had frilly outlines, she had to have her breasts patted down. Forget about the idea that her form was displayed very clearly to the operator, she then had the added humiliation of having her breasts felt up by a female TSA agent.
My turn next. Keep in mind this is a regular white t-shirt. He doesn't ask for permission, just reaches in and pats my sleeves down. The sleeves of my plain white t-shirt. If this machine can't scan through the sleeves of a plain white t-shirt, what the hell is the use of this machine?
I had the option to use the regular metal detectors, which I will be opting for from now on. If the technology worked well, I wouldn't have as much of a problem with the privacy concerns. But when regular, all-cotton clothing (I can't speak for her clothing) interferes with its ability to get a clear reading, something is horribly wrong.
Discuss | Posted on Tuesday, July 21, 2009, in airport, security, travel
