[Anonymous]

[famouschicken]

Travelling trans-atlantic it sometimes benefits me to fly from Manchester direct. Mrs Chicken however refuses to travel from MAN due to the body scanners in operation there. (Out of principal I hasten to add, rather than any more dubious reasons.) I fear the day will come when the good lady is unable to travel out of LHR also. What does the team think about the scanners? I am more curious to gather opinion about the moral pros/cons, rather than the obvious benefits for security of which Mrs C is well aware.

[Goldie99]

Travelling from LGW, I seem to have to undergo these quite regularly, and whilst I’m not happy with them from a female/moral point of view let alone the health aspect … I would like to recommend that the staff managing them are trained to a more amenable level and client friendly!

[MartynSinclair]

……and in 10 years time, there will probably be something else new that will make body scanners seem a thing of the past.

I understand that there will always be passengers who object to any sort of “pat down” however, as Goldie99 suggests a better attitude from those on the front line when facing the travelling public will surely help the situation.

Personally, I have no issue at all with body scanners and find it genuinely quite sad really that somebody wont travel due to their use in airports.

[RichHI1]

Apparently the new scanners here in US have privacy filters that pixelate areas without affecting threat recognition which is shown by colour .

[KeaneJohn]

I have been in one at LHR T1 after being randomly selected last year and I do have to say that despite being see through it is quite claustrophobic inside one even if you are only there for a few seconds.

[famouschicken]

I guess my question is this; as frequent travellers do we humbly give in and accept all that the ruling powers insist is in our best interest? Do we sacrifice our privacy for security reasons? I feel, rightly or wrongly, that female travellers will be more likely to sympathise with my wife. I don’t really care who sees me in the (albeit anonymous, silhouetted) altogether but some others do. There was a thread previously from a male who objected to a rather over-friendly ‘pat down’ in the trouser region. Wifey has come to accept the pat-downs but refuses to accept that it is the govenments given right to see her sans-apparel. Any tech-boffins out there with thoughts of new technology that would not call for this type of scan? Even an automatic process should surely be possible? Rather than a human sitting looking at the screen.. Oh well. it’s the weekend. Over and out til Monday.

[MartynSinclair]

Famouschicken here is the thread/incident in question.

http://www.businesstraveller.com/discussion/topic/Security-Heathrow

..and yes I still object, it has happened since and no I still havent made a complaint on the basis that as passengers, we have absolutely no rights when going through airport security. I have however, created a couple of defences to counter these situations. However, some posters may find these offensive, (although they are more amusing than anything else) so I do not intend sharing.

My only other alternative is to choose not to fly, which is an option that would cost me dearly.

Where airport security is concerned, principals unfortuantely on occasions must come second place, unless you want to risk special treatment by security.

I dont agree, but the travel is more important than some thicko, believing he has the right to feel my penis.

[HonestCrew]

An advantage to these scanners is it takes away the opportunity of a security staff member being ‘in on’ a terror plot, allowing someone to pass through a pat down with something nasty.

An inside job / sabotage is a major possibility these days.

Plus if I can happily shower and change at the gym with strangers seeing my in my birthday suit, a nobody seeing a blurry image of my old boy on a screen in a room somewhere doesn’t really bother me.

[Author]

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