Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is about to become the first airport in the country to test a controversial new federal screening system that takes exceptionally clear X-rays of the human body in an effort to find concealed explosives and other weapons.
The technology, called backscatter, has been around for several years but has not been widely used in the U.S. as an anti-terrorism tool because of privacy concerns.
But the Transportation Security Administration now says it has found a way to refine the machine's images so that the normally graphic pictures can be blurred in certain areas while still being effective in detecting bombs and other threats.
The agency is expected to provide more information about the technology at an official unveiling later this month. For now, the agency will say only that one machine will be up and running at Sky Harbor's Terminal 4 by Christmas.
"We're hoping to have it up for the increased traffic we are anticipating over the holiday and the bowl games," said Paul Armes, the agency's federal security director for the Phoenix region.
Not everyone will have to go through the machine.
The security agency's Web site indicates that the technology will be used initially as a secondary screening measure, meaning that only those passengers who first fail the standard screening process will be directed to the X-ray area.
Even then, passengers will have the option of choosing the backscatter or a traditional pat-down search.
A handful of other U.S. airports will have the X-rays machines in place by early 2007 as part of a nationwide pilot program, officials said.
The technology already is being used in prisons and by drug enforcement agents, and has been tested at London's Heathrow Airport.
The security agency says the machines will be effective in helping detect plastic or liquid explosives and other non-metallic weapons that can be missed by standard metal detectors. But some say the high-resolution images, which clearly depict the outline of the passenger's body, plus anything attached to it, such as jewelry, go too far.
Barry Steinhardt, head of the ACLU's technology and liberty program, told USA Today that the machines could lead to widespread abuse.
"It's absolutely predictable that as this technology becomes commonplace, you're going to start seeing those images all over the Internet," Steinhardt said.
But the agency argues that it has taken the necessary precautions to prevent that from happening.
"It's my understanding that this is the latest and best version (of the technology), and it meets our (country's) standards for privacy," Armes said.
The agency says that the X-rays will be set up so that the image can be viewed only by a Transportation Security Officer in a remote location. Other passengers, and even the agent at the checkpoint, will not have access to the picture.
In addition, the system will be configured so that the X-ray will be immediately deleted as soon as the individual steps away from the machine. It will not be stored or available for printing or transmitting, agency spokesman Nico Melendez said.
And Sky Harbor administrators say the technology is sophisticated enough to protect passengers' privacy.
"We did have concerns about the privacy issue before this current technology was available," Deputy Aviation Director Deborah Ostreicher said. "But we are assured that passengers will be protected."
Some residents find the idea a little unsettling.
"I know they are going to block out the private areas, but I am not convinced they couldn't keep from saving the pictures," said Tempe resident Genny Vogt, who flew from Sky Harbor to the East Coast several times this year. "I understand that Big Brother has to watch in this day and age, but I hope this doesn't become a necessary evil."
The new X-ray machine will be in Terminal 4, which serves US Airways and Southwest Airlines, and handles nearly 80 percent of the airport's passenger traffic. The security agency is already testing another anti-terrorism tool there called the Explosive Detection Trace Portal.
That machine, commonly known as a "puffer," is also designed to screen people for explosives without pat-downs. It works by releasing several puffs of air on the passenger, and then analyzing dislodged particles from the person's clothing for explosive residue.
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