Get ready to get naked!

After the attempted plane bombing by a Nigerian Al-Qaeda agent (sent from Yemen, apparently) on Christmas 2009, and the revelation that there was a similar attempt in Somalia not too long before, things are changing.

We already have updated security in airports which mainly means more hassle and more undertrained guards. We also have tougher inflight regulations, including U.S. bound flights requiring no-one standing up during the last hour of flight. That puts terror in my bladder just thinking about it. OK, so now terrorists just won't wait for the last hour, and will attempt to blow up planes earlier during the journey.

But worst of all - and a huge violation of privacy, comes millimetre wave body scanning. Right now it's only being used on all Dutch flights to the US leaving from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport - but you can rest assured that it will spread to many more airports in the near future, including ones on U.S. soil. Right now it is in several U.S. airports, but is optional and experimental.

This form of scanning requires passengers to climb into a big glass booth and raise their hands in the air. A live image of the passenger appears on the screen and an airport worker looks at a picture of you without your clothes. Yes, just like the X-Ray glasses advertised in the back of old comic books - using this technology, you can see people naked.

This technology was first announced a few years ago, and I remember comments in the press about how it was an interesting idea, but people would never be comfortable with it, and it seemed a little too extreme. Well, not anymore.

Although the manufacturers claim that there is no way to save the image, and it's gone once the next passenger enters, I find this hard to believe. I'm sure some clever airport worker will manage to grab nude millimetre wave images of celebrities and sell them for a ton of cash. You might even find a nude picture of yourself online. I mean a new one, not the drunken shot from your office party last year.

Besides, if there really was no way to save an image from the scanning machine, how did the manufacturer release demo pictures to the press? The image to the right demonstrates the technology. There are a bunch more online.

I understand the need for increased security against terrorist threats - but rather than rush into using new technology, we need to review privacy issues and ensure that the systems being used to protect us cannot potentially betray our trust as well.

UPDATE:

A National Post article has made the same 'celebrity photo' prediction I made above, and also says that the US might be considering deploying the machines at all airports and making them mandatory.