US airport debuts controversial X-ray scanner (The Age)

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U.S. authorities have begun testing a controversial new X-ray machine to screen air passengers for weapons, which critics likened to a "virtual strip search."

TheAge.com.au

Feb. 25, 2007 -- U.S. authorities have begun testing a controversial new X-ray machine to screen air passengers for weapons, which critics likened to a "virtual strip search."

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration rolled out an X-ray machine that uses so-called "backscatter" technology at one checkpoint at Phoenix Sky Harbour International Airport Saurday. The machine peers beneath passengers' clothes to search for hidden explosives and weapons.

The TSA plans to test the machine in Phoenix for 60-90 days before deploying machines in Los Angeles and New York's John F Kennedy Airport for additional testing by the end of the year.

"Every day the bad guys are working and improving their tools. We need to continue working to improve ours and introducing this technology is part of that work," TSA regional spokesman Nico Melendez told Reuters.

Privacy groups and the American Civil Liberties Union have labelled the new screening a "virtual strip search" that could be abused.