Privacy

  TSA shows off new privacy-protecting body scanner at Salt Lake airport. From Latin: privatus "separated from the rest, deprived of something, esp. office, participation in the government", from privo "to deprive") is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively. The boundaries and content of what is considered private differ among cultures and individuals, but share basic common themes. Privacy is sometimes related to anonymity, the wish to remain unnoticed or unidentified in the public realm. When something is private to a person, it usually means there is something within them that is considered inherently special or personally sensitive. The degree to which private information is exposed therefore depends on how the public will receive this information, which differs between places and over time. Privacy is broader than security and includes the concepts of appropriate use and protection of information.
TSA shows off new privacy-protecting body scanner at Salt Lake airport:
The human image is androgynous, somewhat cartoonish — bereft of actual fingers and toes — and it sports what appears to be a $2 haircut.But Transportation Safety Administration officials are betting $2.7 million that this is the best way to balance privacy for passengers being screened at the airport and catching terrorists trying to get on board airplanes.On Wednesday, TSA unveiled at Salt Lake City International Airport — and about 40 other airports — what the agency has dubbed Automated Target Recognition. It is a body scanner that allows passengers to pass through the system in about seven seconds and to also see the image of their scan after they pass through it.However, if the software doesn’t detect metal or plastic on the passenger, no generic outline of the person appears on the computer screen at all. Instead, it simply flashes a green screen with the word “OK” on it.Previously, images were viewed by TSA screeners in a separate room and there were complaints they were too detailed and revealing in nature. There were also concerns about the images being stored, though TSA officials maintain that the images are deleted once the person passes through the detector.The move to the new imaging software comes after TSA took a lot of heat for the previous technology that some felt was too invasive and revealing. And among those leading the charge was Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah.In March, Chaffetz posted his desire to ban the advanced imaging technology and called them the “equivalent of a strip search.”Nobody needs to see my wife and kids naked to secure an airplane,” he said in the statement.