Body scanners on US streets

Recently I asked, body scanners – where next? That post, a mere couple of months ago, featured scanners already in airports and those proposed in railway stations and prisons. Then I wrote about their use in courts.

But here's the answer to my rhetorical question: on the streets.

American Science & Engineering, a company based in Billerica, Massachusetts, has sold U.S. and foreign government agencies more than 500 backscatter x-ray scanners mounted in vans that can be driven past neighbouring vehicles to see their contents…

“This product is now the largest selling cargo and vehicle inspection system ever.”

Here’s a video of the vans in action.

The vans "bounce" a narrow stream of x-rays off and through nearby objects, and read which ones come back. Absorbed rays indicate dense material such as steel. Scattered rays indicate less-dense objects that can include explosives, drugs, or human bodies.

“It’s no surprise that governments and vendors are very enthusiastic about [the vans],” says Marc Rotenberg, executive director of EPIC. “But from a privacy perspective, it’s one of the most intrusive technologies conceivable.”

The manufacturers admit that the systems “to a large degree will penetrate clothing.”

EPIC’s Rotenberg says that the scans, like those in the airport, potentially violate the fourth amendment:

“Without a warrant, the government doesn’t have a right to peer beneath your clothes without probable cause.” Even airport scans are typically used only as a secondary security measure, he points out. “If the scans can only be used in exceptional cases in airports, the idea that they can be used routinely on city streets is a very hard argument to make.”

The TSA’s official policy dictates that full-body scans must be viewed in a separate room from any guards dealing directly with subjects of the scans, and that the scanners won’t save any images. Just what safeguards might be in place for scanning vans isn’t clear, given that the company won’t reveal which law enforcement agencies, organizations within the DHS, or foreign governments have purchased the equipment. AS&E says that it has customers on “all continents except Antarctica.”

The vans do have the capability of storing images. “Sometimes customers need to save images for evidentiary reasons… We do what our customers need.”

By Alex Deane

Hat tip: @adamshostack

If you came to this post looking for our rolling list of airports with body scanners, it is here.