Full Name: Huy Tran
Paper 3
Privacy Concerns and Equity Issues Surrounding Imaging Technology Scanners
Imaging Technology Scanners are used widely in the United States to filter millions of people through airport security checks, in response to terrorist threats. The systems that have generated the most controversy are the passenger full-body scanners. Two main types of full-body scanners used in airports are Backscatter and Millimeter-wave technology units (Accardo, 2014). Although they radiate different type of radiations, both scanners serve the same purpose to detect contraband concealed under clothing without the need for a strip search. Although Imaging Technology Scanners are deployed to further public safety efforts, they have also generated widespread public concerns. These concerns address public health, privacy and equity issues.
BACKGROUND
Backscatter
According to Transportation Security Administration (2008), backscatters use a narrow, low intensity X-ray beam to scan over the body’s surface at high speed. The technology relies on the X-ray radiation that is reflected back from the body and other objects placed or carried on the body, where it is converted into a computer image, embedded with a modesty filter and displayed on a remote monitor. Passengers will walk up to the backscatter unit, assisted by a
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J., 2014). Some organizations filed a lawsuit to suspend the deployment of this technology, called it unlawful, invasive and ineffective and argued that it violated Privacy Act (Accardo, 2014). After that, the Transportation Security Administration took some measures such as obscuring passenger’s face, making image less graphic or producing only the general outline of the body. However, the passengers are still concerned about the detail and privacy of their
“In 2001, airline security was minimal and was the responsibility of the airline. Passengers were asked a few questions by ticket agents before they passed through checkpoints with metal detectors that were calibrated to sound an alarm for anything larger than a small caliber handgun. If an alarm did sound, security at the checkpoint would use a hand wand to scan the passenger again to determine what had set off the alarm. Bags were simply passed through an x-ray machine.... ...
One of the first new pieces of technology the TSA introduced were better screeners. A new screener known as AIT or Advance imaging technology has been created to counteract items that may have been hidden from site or...
“What time should we leave? Two hours in advance? Three? Four?” Millions of people ask these questions each year before boarding a plane. Between driving, security, walking to the gate, and getting settled, boarding a plane exhausts travelers. But out of all of these different activities, one frustrates and restrains travelers the most: TSA security. People ask why they need all this security, complain about the inconvenience it causes, and ultimately annoys people to no end. Created after 9/11, Transportation Security Administration, or TSA, nationalized airport security, increased screening duration, and supposedly increases security on flights. However, statistics say these added security measures never come to fruition and potentially cost more lives than they save.
The Limitations of the Fourth Amendment include hot pursuit, public safety, danger of loss of evidence, and permission of subject. The government did not go too far because the thermal imager did not show home activity, the evidence detected was exposed to the public view, and there could have been a loss of evidence.
Many travelers and passengers wonder and question what responsibilities are assumed by TSA and what TSA members actually do. R...
... Using behavior profiling instead of racial profiling, we can eliminate unfair treatment of an entire group of people to improve airport experiences for everyone. Experts in behavioral sciences could be hired to monitor airports and determine when dangerous situations arise. This system of security could be an improvement over the current one, because homeland security can be improved without the discrimination of an entire race. Racial profiling in airports creates unnecessary frustration for innocent passengers simply hoping to travel across the globe. Some may argue that the precautions are necessary to keep America safe from terrorism, but passenger profiling is too ineffective and unfair to be accepted as a valuable process. Airport security is hard enough to get through as it is, but the prejudice of an entire race is not taking us in the right direction.
Goodwin, Chuck. "Airport Security & Body Scanners: An Overview." (n.d.): N. Pag. Rpt. In Points of View Reference Center. N.p.: N.p., 2013. Web.
The sectaries of America say scanners violate their freedom of rights. However, these scanners were prudently designed with the privacy of the customers in mind by not giving them a hard drive, or putting memory and data storage in them.
Driver, (2013), described the DEXA scanner as a machine that produces two x-ray beams of high and low energy levels. Much like fluoroscopy, the x-ray from the DEXA scanner comes from underneath the patient, and the scanner has a very low x-ray dose. Earlier versions of the DEXA scanner emitted radiation which required up to five minutes to scan an area of interest, but the more advanced machines can take as ...
Keeping a close, but stable, profile people of other race is a more effective way to identify true criminals. In her article Everything Isn’t Racial Profiling, Linda Chavez argues that she is,”…not opposed to allowing- no, requiring- airlines to pay closer attention to passengers who fit a terrorist profile. ”[Chavez]. Interrogation may not always be a violation of privacy so long as officials are not constantly pulling random people from different races for questioning.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is one of the medical imaging modality which provides excellent internal structures of the body using magnetic radiation (WHO, 2014). Better Health Channel (2011) suggested MRI is notably helpful visualizing contrasts of body organs and soft tissues, WHO pointed out MRI generates excellent images of the brain, spine, muscles, joints and other body structures. The images generated by the MRI machine is multiplanar, this means the image is obtained in multiple planes of the body without the patient changing its body position (WHO, 2014). MRI can also be viewed in 3D (Southern Radiology).
Today, security is one of the most important concerns in the world. Modern technologies can serve as both weapons and protection. In the public places, such as stores and airports, companies use the machines called metal detectors. They prevent from bringing in and out objects that are not allowed. However, it creates some problems, such as false alarms and uncomfortable pat-downs, and makes this technology to be incompetent. In order to solve these problems, the scientists created new full-body scanner, which is based on the use of X-rays. The most famous one is the Backscatter scanner, which is placed in many airports. The new invention solved the problems with metal detectors and gives some more
The title of this project is the Scanning Quality Improvement Project (SQIP), with the main purpose of the managerial project being centered upon assessing if the accuracy of pre-scanned documents from collected data over a set period of time is of high enough quality, and then determining if further action be taken. The data collected for this project is mainly from Sparrow Hospital, as well as a few other Sparrow locations like Sparrow Clinton Hospital, and various medical facilities within the state of Michigan. Tawanna, the Health Information Management (HIM) Operation’s Manager of Sparrow Hospital, has agreed to help with the project, and develop an action plan with Kelley Rose, a student from Grand Valley State University who collected
There are an estimated 30 million surveillance cameras in the United States, proving to be a normal feature in American lives (Vlahos). This is no surprise because in the past several years, events such as the 9/11 attack and the availability of cheaper cameras have accelerated this trend. But conflicts have come with this and have ignited, concerning the safety of the people versus the violation of privacy that surveillance has. Although camera surveillance systems are intended to provide safety to the public, the violation of privacy outweighs this, especially in a democratic country like America.
“O’Hare Airport Debuts Full-Body Scanner in Chicago.” UPI Photo Collection. 2010. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 17. January. 2014.