Full body scanners use millimeter wave or x-ray technology to generate a full body image for security purposes. They are controversial due to concerns about privacy, radiation, and effectiveness. Backscatter radiography and millimeter-wave scanners are the two types of scanners used. They are primarily used at airports, but some courthouses and government buildings have also adopted the technology. The potential risk to personal privacy and human rights is a major controversy surrounding the use of full-body scanners. Radiation concerns are also present in the debate.
A full body scanner is a security device that uses millimeter wave or x-ray technology to generate a full body image. These devices are sometimes employed at airports and other high-security locations as a means of scanning all attendees for weapons or hidden items. The use of full-body scanners is a highly controversial issue for several reasons, including concerns about illegal research methods, fears of an increase in radiation created by machines, and concerns about the effectiveness of machines as a security tool.
Many full-body scanners use a type of technology known as backscatter radiography, which was developed by American inventor Martin Annis in the late 20th century. This form of full-body scanner creates an image by bouncing X-rays off a target and building a composite image from the reflected radiation. While organic materials, such as body tissue, will show up as translucent outlines, inorganic materials tend to create a contrasting outline.
Millimeter-wave scanners, in contrast, use high-frequency radio waves to create a three-dimensional image. The outlines created by the image are usually sharper, but the image takes longer to build. Millimeter wave scanners are less commonly used than backscatter machines, mainly due to issues of convenience and speed.
Both types of full-body scanners are primarily used at airports, although some courthouses and government buildings have also adopted the technology. Typically, machines are located at the entrance to an airport terminal, where ticketed passengers can pass through the machines before reaching the gate area. The rise in popularity of the full-body scanner is largely attributed to increased security concerns following the terrorist attacks on aircraft. The first full body scanner was placed in 2007, at Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands. Use of the machines spread throughout Europe and the United States, with some scanners also in Africa, Asia and South America.
One of the major controversies surrounding the use of full-body scanners is the potential risk to personal privacy and human rights. Both types of scanners create a nude image of the subject, although some features may be blurry. In a widely publicized incident, more than 100 images were leaked online, despite official claims that the images could not be archived or saved. Some critics suggest that the use of a full-body scanner constitutes illegal searches in some areas, since the subjects are not under reasonable suspicion of committing a crime.
Radiation concerns are also present in the whole-body scanner debate. Medical experts have come up with different findings and interpretations of the radiation dose created by backscatter machines, as well as its potential impact on vulnerable individuals, such as pregnant women. A number of conflicting claims lead to little consensus about the potential radiation damage caused by full-body scanners.
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