Virtual strip search machine ready
Washington, Feb 24 . US authorities began testing a controversial new X-ray machine to screen air passengers for weapons in Phoenix from Friday.
The X-ray machine that uses so-called 'backscatter' technology peers beneath passengers' clothes to search for hidden explosives and weapons.
The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) set up the machine at a checkpoint at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, the nation's eighth busiest airport.
The device will be tested at Phoenix for 60-90 days before more are installed at Los Angeles and New York's airports for further testing.
The new screening technique, developed by Boston-based American Science and Engineering Inc., has attracted strong criticism from privacy groups and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which labelled it a 'virtual strip search' that could be abused.
Passengers selected for secondary testing at the airport can choose an X-ray scan or a pat-down search. It is strictly voluntary.
Airline passengers who choose to use the new machine stand in front of it with their arms up in the air. A tiny laser beam scans the passenger from head to toe.
The images come up on a computer screen in the control room. A green or red light - for pass or fail - shows up at the controls.
Officials said the computer is not equipped to save or store scanned images which is a concern raised by privacy-rights groups.
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