Getting NAKED with Strangers May Be More Dangerous Than Suspected

[Segami]

:scared::yoiks:


" In a post about body scanners last month, I noted that the health effects of these machines has been a "muted part of the debate." The issue just got less muted. NPR is reporting that a group of scientists at the University of California, San Francisco, has raised concerns over the health effects of backscatter X-ray body scanners, which is one of the two types being deployed (the other being millimeter wave). The scientists' concerns over backscatter are disputed by the TSA and others, and we at the ACLU do not pretend to be scientists. But, the scientists' brief letter (PDF), which they sent on April 6 to President Obama's science advisor John P. Holdren, is worth looking at.

<http://www.npr.org/assets/news/2010/05/17/concern.pdf>


The scientists' concerns are:


* The majority of the energy directed by these scanners "is delivered to the skin and the underlying tissue. Thus, while the dose would be safe if it were distributed throughout the volume of the entire body, the dose to the skin may be dangerously high." For that reason it is "misleading," the scientists say, to compare these scanners' radiation dose to those of airplane travel or a chest X-ray.


* The fact that "real independent safety data do not exist" — particularly what the scientists describe as the "key data": the volume of photons delivered per skin area and time.


* A certain proportion of individuals (5 percent, or one in 20 people) are particularly susceptible to genetic damage from X-rays.


* "Because this device can scan a human in a few seconds, the X-ray beam is very intense," the scientists write, and warn that a hardware glitch with one of these scanners could shower a traveler with "an intense radiation dose to a single spot on the skin."


Ultimately, the scientists conclude that "there is good reason to believe that these scanners will increase the risk of cancer to children and other vulnerable populations," and that the "potential health consequences need to be rigorously studied before these scanners are adopted."


<http://www.aclu.org/blog/technology-and-liberty/getting-naked-strangers-may-be-more-dangerous-suspected>

[slay]

1. This is how terrorists win. Not with battles - but by making us so afraid

that we'll allow our own people to x-ray us! WTF. You know what, I'll take my chances with the "terrorists" over the x-rays. It's not like x-rays are the only tool anyways. That's how they win though - make us afraid to just LIVE. Bah.

[Segami]

4. On a darker more sinister note, I wonder if certain unsuspecting traveling personnel

could be TARGETED to receive an extra deadly dose of RAYS?? Arizona must be licking their chops to get their hands on one of these RAY machines.

[flamingdem]

6. This is just the thought that crossed my mind

I am not impressed with the TSA people and many were involved with theft.

[Segami]

10. Late night comedians better ease off condescending TSA jokes unless they plan never to travel by air

again. I can also envision these units secretly being set up so that applied RAY dosages delivered from these machines can be remotely overridden from a secret location hundreds of miles away at any given moment. Once you have your targets from the flight list, the rest becomes just a sit and wait til the target enters the RAY Machine. An override RAD switch is activated, the target is ZAPPED with the unsuspecting TSA operator oblivious to it all.

[flamingdem]

11. Maybe the CIA pushed for them

not that we're getting paranoid or anything..

[slay]

12. Yeah this is creepy

accidental problems, possible use as a weapon, questions of safety on every level - and just the plain humility of having other people see you naked - the bowing before authority - it amazes me in so many ways that this has been allowed - some would say made - to happen. :scared:

[Segami]

18. Misdirection has always been a weapon of choice for covert operations. Such a scenario is NOT at all

a stretch of one's imagination.

[Newest Reality]

7. They only win for those who want them to.

Who is it that uses the "terrorists" as an excuse to make us afraid while we seem to collectively give up what is most essential to us?

[flamingdem]

2. F**K EVERYTHING. I was forced through one in Dallas

and did not realize what was happening.

They did NOT inform me of anything just pushed me to stand in the footprints.

Do not let it happen to you.

All along people have been whining about being seen naked. I've never understood
how you can even care about that when radiation is aimed at your body.

[Hekate]

3. KnR

Rant rant rant rant rant Rant rant rant rant rant Rant rant rant rant rant Rant rant rant rant rant :argh:

[flamingdem]

5. The absurdity of the scanners is like the BP scandal, can we trust idiots to care

if they are following procedure?

How about the idea that some TSA high school dropout is in charge of your life or death from cancer?

Did they check the machines lately?

[notesdev]

8. I called this when it first hit the news

And they said, oh no, this stuff is harmless, it's not like a real x-ray scan.

[Lifelong Protester]

9. I don't want any dangerous rays pointed at me

I'd rather scare the pants off some TSA worker by making them take a look at this wrinkly old body. Call their bluff.

[JCMach1]

13. CT was once thought safer as well

[tavalon]

14. Well, I see I was ahead of the curve on this one

I was asking that question at least 6 months ago. But don't worry, they're certified by the TSA!

[seabeyond]

15. all is good people, as long as we "feel" safer. thanks to the cowards

that allow fear to interfer with reality

[madokie]

16. I'm happy to say I got that out of my system years ago

back before it was so dangerous :-)

[The Backlash Cometh]

17. Aggravates me even more that they picked my daughter for this scanner

without telling her that she had options.

[Tutankhamun]

19. If enough people simply refuse to go through these things, they'll have to stop.

I would not even let them use a standard x-ray on me without probable cause. People need to refuse to let themselves be bombarded by radiation. If enough people are brave and just insist on being strip searched (a major waste of tsa time and resources), we'll see the end of these things.

[xynthee]

20. Unless I missed something, I'm pretty sure it will only be a pat-down.

They're not going to strip-search everyone who declines the body scanner. Just a nice, friendly pat-down. Not as huge of a waste of TSA time and resources as a strip-search, but still a pretty big waste of time and resources. Maybe it'll create some jobs!!

[RagAss]

21. Jeeez....six years of college down the drain.