As a traveler, you are required to go through TSA security checkpoints in airports, which means that you need to walk through X-ray scanners. But what do these machines reveal? Many travelers have been terrified by how detailed these scanners actually are.
Luckily, these X-ray machines have been through some changes since. However, these devices continue to reveal any items people are hiding under their clothes. So, the scanners have to be somewhat see-through, to some extent. This is a necessary safety precaution, but how much can they see?
Technology within airport security keeps advancing, so today, the machines and devices they use are updated. A communication researcher, Shawna Malvini Redden, PhD, has studied the TSA checkpoints since 2010. Redden wrote a book, 101 Pat-Downs, where she revealed descriptions of detailed X-ray scans taken in airports.
Redden has disclosed to Reader’s Digest that TSA in airport security would see greatly detailed body scans, usually displaying nudity. This terrifying reality was revealed just a few years ago. Security would see everything when someone walks through the scanners since the images are not censored.
Redden had soon confirmed the terrifying truth, as she said, “Early versions of the scanners came out without any privacy protections, and TSOs in the checkpoint could be looking at naked images of passengers as they went through the screening.”
The disclosure soon left people surprised, expressing their shock on social media. One person commented on X: “Wait, when you walk through the airport security scanner thing, do the TSA agents see you naked???!!?!! I should have been flexing!!!!!!!”
Technology, however, has been evolving since 2013. Thankfully, the TSA X-ray scans are not as highly detailed anymore. Today, the machines produce more generic scans, so TSA members can’t get an eyeful.
Airport scanners are not as invasive anymore, so passengers can keep their privacy. Redden explained, “Now when passengers are scanned, the machines are supposed to generate generic images of a body instead of the passenger’s unique image.” Phew!
Now, the machines create “doll-like” scans to replicate a generic human body. “With millimeter wave machines that have the privacy software installed, TSOs are only seeing this outline with a green ‘clear’ or a red ‘stop and check’ signal,” Redden explained.
“If someone has something in their pockets, for instance, the machine will put an alarm note in the paper doll’s groin region so the officer knows generally where to search,” Redden continued.
Body scanners in airports are designed to highlight items anywhere on a person that may pose a potential threat. With new and improved airport technology, the machines which are currently used only see a gingerbread man-type scan and not your actual body.
Redden confirmed that “body scanners would also not pick up anything else stashed inside a body cavity, such as drugs or hazardous liquids.” This is all TSA protocol which ensures the passengers’ safety, especially post 9/11.
TSA spokesperson R. Carter Langston stated,
“Body scanners use a technology called Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) for full-body scans at airport checkpoints.” Langston continues, “It’s a millimeter wave scanner that detects a wide range of metallic and nonmetallic threats in a matter of seconds.”
There is a ton of complex science that goes into this machine. Redden simplifies it for us: “Essentially, the machines send millimeter waves towards a passenger’s insides.” Redden explains, “The waves go through clothing and reflect off the passenger’s skin (and whatever else is concealed) and bounce back an image, which is interpreted by the machine.”
Some women have expressed their concern about whether or not the TSA can see a tampon or period product in a scan. Thankfully, they do not. This is a common question, typically searched on Google. For the women reading this, you can take a breather. Airport scans can not detect anything inside of the body and, therefore, can not detect a tampon.
With that being said, security will only see what is in your pockets in a non-invasive way. So, the masses don’t need to worry!
Kat McElroy
May 10, 2024 at 7:03 am
It is only a slight improvement that individual TSOs can not see the nude image. The fact is that a nude image is taken, it is just kept in a computer data format, rather than a photo displayed on a screen for human observers. This is an absolute violation of everyone’s right to security of their persons, guaranteed in the 4th Amendment.
But, this software upgrade was enough to get the public to stop protesting the machines. And, while this was all part of the post-9/11 security hype, these machines came in 2009 – many years later and with thin justification. Lots of money was made, though!