
Manchester (England) Airport's body scanners scrapped - ljf
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-19620981
======
semanticist
This is one case where the mods should definitely fix the post title - this is
not airport scanners scrapped everywhere in the UK, just Manchester, and
they're going to be replaced with a different type anyway.

They deployed scanners in Glasgow and Edinburgh airports just a few weeks ago,
and as objclxt points out: you can't opt-out of them. In theory you should
only be scanned if you set off the metal detector or are 'randomly' selected,
but I've heard at least one report of everyone going through Glasgow airport
being scanned.

I assume these are the 'privacy friendly' scanners, which 'don't emit
radiation' according to the airports. I think they mean they're millimetre
wave instead of backscatter X-Ray, but they're still intrusive. They show up
anything they find on a 'cartoon' image.

The BBC report on the scanners being fitted in Glasgow and Edinburgh is here:
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-
fife-19...](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-
fife-19399271)

~~~
handelaar
The ones at Heathrow T1 were obviously mothballed when I went through on
Wednesday evening. Not _just_ Manchester, it appears.

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objclxt
What the article doesn't mention, but is very important to note, is that
unlike in the US passengers _can not_ opt out. If you don't want to go through
the body scanner you simply aren't going to travel. This is one of the issues
that the EU has with them.

~~~
jvdh
At AMS[0] you can opt-out, I've done so every time I went through there. They
will look at you funny, ask you why, and you will be patted down, but they
will allow you to fly.

[0]: Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

~~~
dpark
I wish I'd known that. I had to go through one in Amstersam last month. That's
the first and only time I've ever gone through one, despite flying a dozen of
times since they were installed in the US.

They're generally not hard to avoid in the US. Most airports have at least one
line where they aren't being used (often the line nearest to the first-
class/priority ID-check line). It's not hard to just get in that line after
the ID check. The one time I've been told to go through the backscatter
scanner (in the US), I told the agent I wanted to opt out, and she just
directed me through the metal detector and that was the end.

------
ck2
Can I ask a really stupid question that has probably been asked before?

Aren't there way more people standing around being delayed in a screening area
than on any plane?

Why would a terrorist even have to make it through screening?

~~~
ot
If your goal is just to make a mass murder, there are places more crowded than
an airport and with less police walking around.

Getting control of a plane can make significantly more damage.

~~~
pessimizer
True, and also likely back when the airlines were lobbying not to have to
strengthen cockpit doors. These days, the odds of getting into the cockpit
armed with boxcutters are somewhere between shit and NULL.

~~~
ot
Agree, this reminded me of the following quote by Schneier:

> “The only useful airport security measures since 9/11,” he says, “were
> locking and reinforcing the cockpit doors, so terrorists can’t break in,
> positive baggage matching”—ensuring that people can’t put luggage on planes,
> and then not board them —“and teaching the passengers to fight back. The
> rest is security theater.”

[http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2011/12/tsa-
insan...](http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2011/12/tsa-
insanity-201112)

------
andrewaylett
My definition of 'scrapped' differs from theirs: they aren't getting rid of
the scanners altogether, they're replacing them with an upgraded model. OK,
the upgrade gives them privacy features, rather than raw images, but
'scrapped' seems a bit strong.

I should also note that it's only Manchester airport that's affected, not the
whole of the UK.

~~~
frobozz
The normal definition of scrapping something is to get rid of it, typically in
such a way that it is not reused in its current form.

e.g. If I scrap my car, it means that I am no longer using it, nor have I sold
it on to another driver to use it. It will likely be broken up for parts.

Whether I get a new car to replace it has no bearing on whether it has been
scrapped.

------
viraptor
"a recent survey 100% of passengers were satisfied"

I'd be very suspicious if I saw any survey that indicates 0% or 100% of
anything. That just doesn't happen normally.

~~~
nodata
I've been surveyed three times for these scanners. Don't trust the results:
all three times I declined due to "privacy reasons", and all three times they
ticked the "health reasons" box, despite my objections.

~~~
finnw
Maybe they want to imply that anyone who objects to being scanned for privacy
reasons, must be mentally ill.

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UnoriginalGuy
The title is highly misleading; nowhere in the article does it say that these
are being scrapped in the whole of the UK. For all we know some trials are
continuing at other airports.

Also the way I read the article, they're just replacing them with identical
scanners soon anyway, which use different software to preserve privacy (but
still hit your junk with harmful x-rays).

~~~
cstross
Trials are not continuing at other airports; rather, _universal roll-out is
underway at ALL UK airports carrying international traffic_. And there's no
opt-out in the UK -- if you're selected and you don't want to be scanned you
will be arrested.

~~~
semanticist
It looks like you might not get arrested, but you definitely won't be
permitted to fly. The BBC report on two women who refused scans in Manchester
says they 'left the airport', with no mention of arrests.
(<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/8547416.stm>)

It's still not a good situation. I don't travel often, and the installation of
scanners at Edinburgh is adding to the stress.

------
forgottenpaswrd
Oh yeah: You are so happy to be beaten with a baseball bat because you prefer
it to being raped. 100% satisfaction guaranteed.

Great example of a Spin Doctor in action:
[http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-
september-10-2012/the-...](http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-
september-10-2012/the-correspondents-explain---campaigning---spin-doctors)

~~~
sabret00the
An article about the UK in which a comment links to a video that you can't
watch in the UK. Yay!

~~~
darien
Use a proxy to view U.S materials <http://www.proxylists.net/>

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mediocregopher
>100% of passengers were satisfied with them and prefer them to frisking.

This is a silly comparison. I'm sure if the survey had asked passengers if
they preferred frisking to a cavity search they would have found a lot of
people being very ok with getting frisked.

~~~
da_n
"100% of victims were satisfied with thumbscrews and prefer them to the iron
maiden."

\- Medieval Torturers Union.

------
ZoFreX
I can't wait for the inevitable EU blog post explaining why it's not Brussel's
fault these are being removed -
<http://ec.europa.eu/unitedkingdom/blog/index_en.htm> (for those outside the
UK, the EU is the political boogeyman, and is frequently blamed unfairly)

------
Mordor
> 100% of passengers were satisfied

I'm guessing their sample size was zero.

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WiseWeasel
So do the new machines also use testicle-nuking backscatter x-rays? Who cares
whether the image is photorealistic or not. This piece was almost more
disinformative than informative.

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AlisdairO
Superb. Really good to see progress being made on this issue.

