India may remove body scanning machines from airport
16 Feb 2007
New Delhi: Terming it as a sensitive issue, security agencies tasked with the job of maintaining security at airports in India would appear to have decided to discard the state-of-the-art X-ray machines brought in recently. According to media reports, security agencies have said that the X-ray body scanners may raise issues about the violation of passenger privacy.
According to reports, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which is in charge of security of India's airports, had decided to install state-of-the-art body scanners at 16 airports by way of intercepting "human bombs," amongst other security measures. These machines, which use advanced X-ray technology, were considered to be a foolproof measure as they are capable of detecting explosives or weapons dispersed around a human body.
According to reports, the first scanner, installed at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport four months ago was soon discarded, as the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel tasked with the job of body searches at the airport, found the images to be too revealing. More relevant, CISF personnel also felt that the scanners weren't as foolproof as originally thought.
Given the hue and cry already raised in countries abroad about their use, security officials are now not willing to risk their deployment here in the country.
Air passengers in the West have complained that body scanning amounted to a strip-search and violated their privacy.
