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Privacy campaigners claim the images created by the machines are so graphic
they amount to "virtual strip-searching" and have called for safeguards to
protect the privacy of passengers involved.
Ministers now face having to exempt under 18s from the scans or face the
delays of introducing new legislation to ensure airport security staff do
not commit offences under child pornography laws.
They also face demands from civil liberties groups for safeguards to ensure
that images from the £80,000 scanners, including those of celebrities, do
not end up on the internet. The Department for Transport confirmed that the
"child porn" problem was among the "legal and operational issues" now under
discussion in Whitehall after Gordon Brown's announcement on Sunday that he
wanted to see their "gradual" introduction at British airports.
A 12-month trial at Manchester airport of scanners which reveal naked images
of passengers including their genitalia and breast enlargements, only went
ahead last month after under-18s were exempted.
The decision followed a warning from Terri Dowty, of Action for Rights of
Children, that the scanners could breach the Protection of Children Act
1978, under which it is illegal to create an indecent image or a
"pseudo-image" of a child.
Dowty told the Guardian she raised concerns with the Metropolitan police
five years ago over plans to use similar scanners in an anti-knife campaign,
and when the Department for Transport began a similar trial in 2006 on the
Heathrow Express rail service from Paddington station.
"They do not have the legal power to use full body scanners in this way,"
said Dowty, adding there was an exemption in the 1978 law to cover the
"prevention and detection of crime" but the purpose had to be more specific
than the "trawling exercise" now being considered.
A Manchester airport spokesman said their trial had started in December, but
only with passengers over 18 until the legal situation with children was
clarified. So far 500 people have taken part on a voluntary basis with
positive feedback from nearly all those involved.
Passengers also pass through a metal detector before they can board their
plane. Airport officials say the scanner image is only seen by a single
security officer in a remote location before it is deleted.
A Department for Transport spokesman said: "We understand the concerns
expressed about privacy in relation to the deployment of body scanners. It
is vital staff are properly trained and we are developing a code of
practice to ensure these concerns are properly taken into account. Existing
safeguards also mean those operating scanners are separated from the device,
so unable to see the person to whom the image relates, and these anonymous
images are deleted immediately."
But Shami Chakrabarti, of Liberty, had concerns over the "instant"
introduction of scanners: "Where are the government assurances that
electronic strip-searching is to be used in a lawful and proportionate and
sensitive manner based on rational criteria rather than racial or religious
bias?" she said.
Her concerns were echoed by Simon Davies of Privacy International who said
he was sceptical of the privacy safeguards being used in the United States.
Although the American system insists on the deletion of the images, he
believed scans of celebrities or of people with unusual or freakish body
profiles would prove an "irresistible pull" for some employees.
The disclosures came as Downing Street insisted British intelligence
information that the Detroit plane suspect tried to contact radical
Islamists while a student in London was passed on to the US.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's name was included in a dossier of people
believed to have made attempts to deal with extremists, but he was not
singled out as a particular risk, Brown's spokesman said.
President Barack Obama has criticised US intelligence agencies for failing
to piece together information about the 23-year-old that should have stopped
him boarding the flight.
Brown's spokesman said "There was security information about this
individual's activities and that was shared with the US authorities."
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