[pp.int.general] Flashmob against full body scanners

[bakel362 at planet.nl]

My understanding is that the latest generation of full body scanners does not require a human to assess images: it is done by a computer (that does not know what a penis is!). If the computer says that the person is suspect, further testing is done (but afaik not using the image).
 
I am not saying that customes authorities have solved the privacy problem, but I do believe that a smarter PP response is required to this new(?) development. It should be avoided that we cry out for privacy - while the respone is: privacy is not affected at all, the computer analysind the images is "neutral".
 
Does anyone know whether these scanners use X-ray (R"ontgen)? If they do, they are a health risk, however low the dose is. X-rays are high energy radiation (for thoese not familiar in quantum physics: this is not a matter of the amout of energy in watts: it is entirely determined by the frequency of the radiation - based on Plancks formula). The actual percentage of people contracting cancer because of these scans may be low, but a high number of people multiplied by a low percentrage still is a substantial number of people. A cynical calculation would be to compare that number to the number of potential terrorist attack victims. I guess the latter i lower. But rather I would say: any checking method affecting health is *wrong*. Affecting privacy is bad enough.
 
reinier
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