TSA Ditches 'Naked' Body Scanners

But you'll still have to go through scanners that create generic images
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 18, 2013 1:45 PM CST
TSA Ditches 'Naked' Body Scanners
A sign describes what TSA officers see on their computer screens as volunteers go through the first full body X-ray scanner installed at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago.   (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)

The Transportation Security Administration is done looking at your junk. The agency has confirmed for the AP that it intends to get rid of its much-maligned X-ray body scanners, which have proven controversial because they produce essentially naked images of travelers. Congress responded to the outcry by passing a law requiring software that covered passengers up, but the company that makes the scanners, Rapiscan, wasn't able to make it work.

The scanners should all be gone by June. But that doesn't mean the days of putting your hands over your head at the airport are over; the TSA is keeping another variety of scanner, which show only a generic image of a passenger's body, highlighting areas that agents should check further. (More TSA stories.)

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