I don’t agree with profiling either, as it marginalises whole groups of people. That leads to resentment and feelings of victimisation – the very causes of many types of terrorism. I think it would create more problems than it solves.

I can accept a full body scan for myself, but I think there are privacy issues that haven’t been addressed. I read an interesting post about the implications of full body scanners for people with disabilities – it can show up a lot of things that you might not want public.

I’m not convinced that more technology is the answer. So often we are let down by human error at the airport. How many times have you accidentally left something in your hand luggage and it’s sailed through security because the checkers weren’t looking properly? And in the case of the most recent attempted attack, the guy was on a list and should have been flagged before it even got to that point.

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I think this article is worth a read Darren, I came across it on twitter from @timothychughes In your last paragraph you state ” I really hope that common sense prevails”. As stated in the article above, isn’t profiling actually common sense, but it’s not used due to political correctness?

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One aspect of this that seems to have picked up a fair bit of discussion quite quickly is that of age / consent. Should this only apply to passengers over a certain age for fear of potential inappropriate use of images of children?

For me, if this is going to be used it should be on an absolute blanket basis but interested to hear thoughts as otherwise it seems to leave a great big loophole ready to be manipulated in very disturbing ways…

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The full body scanners are one of the few security measures that I think make sense. Employees at the airport will be seeing so many people every day in their birthday suits (or rather beneath them) that I have no concern that the screeners will be looking at anything but potentially dangerous objects. I have been through a few security “pat downs” that I feel were a lot more of an invasion of my privacy than the full body scanners.

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I’ve actually talked about this before, I totally avoid America when visiting Canada due to the way I am treated in airports. I prefer to spend more to fly via Japan than going via LA. I feel my contribution to their economy through my tourism is something they should be thankful for (As most countries are) but more annoying is how different my wife and I get treated.

I am white, she is Australian born Chinese and EVERY time I go through fine and she gets the pat down. It doesn’t sound like it would be all that upsetting, but it gets VERY annoying. I thought the UK born and white terrorists that have started to pop up would have made racial profiling obsolete? All very annoying.

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Annoying maybe, but apparently some kind of strict policy is needed

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Initial I thought it would bother me, but I would not mind. I also thought I would be bothered if my children were asked to have a full body scan, but again I’d rather tighter security than a lapse of security which can only be done if every passenger is treated the same way.

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Profiling based on nationality does nothing but cast a large net around a very minuscule threat. Behavioral based and other types of profiling are more effective. The scanners can be useful but would not have prevented 9/11 (box cutters were allowed) or the attempted liquid bombers (since drinks were allowed). Looking back on and trying to prevent previous methods of attack is costly and inefficient.

I would rather invest the money that goes into each scanner into professional detective and surveillance equipment and personnel. Much more effective of preventing attacks before they get to the final stages in the airport or plane.

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To people who think that profiling “just makes sense”, I have two words: Timothy McVeigh.

@Maya Curious to know if you read the link I shared about all the other things that might show up on a full body scan besides someone’s birthday suit or dangerous items.

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Air passenger profiling not the solution for airport security: As a former airline manager and former VP of Airport security at an international airport, I have been for a type of full body scanner for over 15 years. Judging from my experience it is a vital measure to reducing the chance of smuggling explosive on board. It does not guarantee anything, since the development of explosive has gone into science fiction reality. If the public knew the number of disasters avoided each and every day, they would just stop all this nonsense of being worried about invasion of privacy. Security and privacy are contradictive terms. Development of ‘non-x-ray’ images are great and suffice. Let’s get on with it, before we have another disaster!

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I’m not against using body scanners, but I don’t think they are the be-all, end-all solution for better aviation security. They’re just a part of a bigger process. It’s always interesting to me that the people who are least likely to be profiled at airports are the ones who scream the loudest about boosting the use of profiling. Whatever the end result, I hope it’s one that achieves a balance of keeping travelers secure without resorting to draconian and inconvenient measures.

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Although I’m not a fan of profiling, I do think it’s widely misunderstood.

When people talk about profiling it’s usually in the context of targeting Arabs. Timothy McVeigh was white. The Shoe Bomber was half white, half Jamaican. This latest guy was Nigerian.

But as far as I understand it, the profiling wouldn’t particularly be about race at all. Gender, age, class, educational background (many of these guys have engineering degrees for some reason) would all feed into the profiling.

It’s also not a case of the security guards deciding to profile you based on appearance – the decision would happen earlier and the security staff would just execute it. I was pulled over for extra screening on flights to and from the US and Nicaragua. Some code was printed on my boarding pass that meant the security guards had to do extra screening.

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I had similar experience to Caitlin – I had a one-way ticket once and it was flagged for extra screening. The security people were kind though and cautioned me not to leave the secure area (as my flight was delayed), that the additional screening was attached to the ticket.

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Caitlin – the SSSS code on boarding pass is a terrible system and a complete waste of time. It assumes people flying on one-way tickets, or those bought at the last minute, are high risk which is of course a nonsense.

I’m also against profiling. On my first visit to Hawaii years ago, we took an inter-island flight. Every non-American got extra screening and every American did not. So crude, ineffective and engenders resentment.

I’m also against the full body scanners because they are likely to be ineffective and definitely intrusive (as posted above). It is doubtful they would have found anything if they’d been used in the Dec 25th incident.

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@TGT I agree. It was quite annoying because the flights were LA-Houstoun-Managua then Managua-Houston-LA, which meant I had to go through extra security four times – twice on the way to Nicaragua and twice on the way back. I nearly missed the connection in Houston on the way back as a result and had to catch a ride on the baggage train to get to the other side of the terminal.

I agree with you about the full body scanners being intrusive, but I understand that it would have caught the Dec 25 bomber. A pat-down would have worked as well. Didn’t he have something attached to his leg?

Another potential concern for the full body scanners, would be a trade in the images of celebrities who pass through the system.

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The full body scans do not detect explosives.

They also cannot see under folds of skin or in orifices.

They also rely on vigilant people identifying items of interest from the scanners. How many times have we carried disallowed items in our carry ons and they haven’t been detected? My personal record is 7 amenity kits each with gels in my carry on being taken through about a dozen security check points.

I’m less worried about celebrities than about pedophiles (and if children are exempt from screening that in itself is a major security flaw).

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I personally am against thewidescale and indiscriminate use of full body scanning. I have a problem with it on personal grounds. Apart from that I believe there are massive privacy issues involved. I also beleive that we heighten the security argument in what can only be described as a scaremngering fashion and forget the basis of a democracy and justice system which states innocent until proven guilty.
when I hear and read the stories about the incident that has brought about this debate – the ordinary travelling public is asked to suffer such things because of the failure of the security system already in place.
The wholesale use of this technology seems to be gulity till proven innocent.
I also beleive there can be health issues which have not been fully looked into.
Profiling, if done properly and with sharing of all intelligence, is not discriminatory. It targets those who show high indcators of being suspicious. That does not mean all Muslims and all foreigners etc.
With the mandatory introduction of these scanners I will be travelling far less and only when I have to. I am sure there are many more like me.

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Events:
1972 Munich Olympics, In 1979 the US embassy in Iran, 1988 PanAm flight 103 bombed,
1993 World Trade Center, 911, 2002 Daniel Peal killed…and more!
By whom:
young male muslin extremists.
No, I really don’t see a pattern here to justify profiling, do you?
Fort Hood Texas……another Muslim 39 years old killed 13 people and wounded 30 some odd others… Does this fit the profile!

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I do not agree with the writer of this article. Give a pat down search anythime – but a strip search of any kind – forget it. It is degrading, humiliating and abusive. It is an abuse of the individual – it is an abuse of power and amounts to nothing more than state sponsored abuse. It is also indiscriminate.
The use of profiling is essential and the use of full body scanning should ONLY be used for those who after profiling are deemed to pose a real or potential risk to travellers.

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