Privacy vs. security at the airport

Which do you fear more, terrorists or airport security checkpoints?

According to a report released by the federal Transportation Security Administration, people continue to try to carry weapons with them onto airliners. But Thursday, the House of Representatives voted to limit checkpoint devices that show images of prospective passengers as if they’re nude.

The TSA report said screeners found 23 guns at U.S. airport checkpoints just from May 25 to May 31. In 2008, according to ticklethewire.com, 833 firearms were confiscated at airport checkpoints.

So, the TSA is considering installing the whole-body imaging machines at more airports’ checkpoints despite objections that they invade passengers’ privacy. The devices are already operating at 19 airports, including Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall and Ronald Reagan Washington National.

The bill passed 310-118 last week in the House would prohibit the use of the devices as the sole or primary method of screening aircraft passengers. Also, passengers would be offered pat-down searches instead of in lieu of such screening. And, saving an image of a passenger who’s been allowed to board would be prohibited. Passengers’ faces are blurred during the process.

“It basically looks at your body naked,” said Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a Republican from Utah who sponsored the legislation. “Nobody needs to see my kids … and see my wife naked in order to secure an airplane.”

“Over the course of testing this technology as the primary screening procedure in six airports, 99.6 percent of passengers choose this technology over other screening options,” a TSA spokesman said. “Passengers who do not wish to receive millimeter-wave screening can use the walk-through metal detector and undergo a pat-down procedure.”

Using the technology allows a passenger who’s undergone joint replacement to be searched in 15 seconds, instead of going through a 2- to 4-minute pat-down, the TSA says. The procedure has been used at airports in Japan, India, Australia, Russia, the Netherlands, Spain and England. Authorities in Germany have opposed it.

So, travelers flying out of BWI or Washington National can be left with a choice of what Germany considers a “virtual strip search” or what some Americans call “hands-on groping.”

NOTE: A previous version of this post included a quote from TSA spokeswoman Sari Koshetz, which she has said was taken out of context.