Friday, October 30, 2009

X-ray-ted at the airport

CANADA’S PRIVACY commissioner has just given the OK to airport scanners that enable security officers to see through the clothes of travelers.

Ostensibly, this scanner will show if people are packing explosives or any other weapons that might slip through a conventional metal detector.

Oooh... scanner porn.

Officers will view this three-dimensional image in a separate room, and won’t actually see the traveler he or she is “inspecting” on the screen.

And apparently the images can’t be stored or captured in any way, limiting the chances they’ll end up on some fetish porn site for people who get off on vaguely defined nude airport security images (hey, there’s no accounting for taste).

The manufacturer of the scanners claims the majority of passengers prefer such a full-body scan to having to undress or be patted down.

I have my doubts about this system.

Perhaps it’s because I don’t have much faith in the professionalism or competence of those charged with handling security at airports. They might well be perfectly upstanding citizens, but there are always bad apples (read: perverts) in every bunch.

So what’s to say a bored, underpaid and quite possibly undersexed security dude isn’t going to kick back to enjoy a little scanner-porn on his coffee break.

And if he likes what he sees, maybe he’ll decide he’s in the mood to explore a few cavities; or at the very least ask for some hot girl’s number. After all, he’ll know exactly what he’s in store for.

Who’s the security threat then?

ryan@roadtostarrdom.com

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