Airport scanners questioned by equality watchdog
January 18, 2010
The Equality of Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has sent a letter to the Home Secretary asking the government to explain more fully why it intends to introduce airport scanners which could infringe on peoples rights to privacy. The EHRC wants Alan Johnson to clearly say how he proposes to select those people to be put through the new full-body scanners and how he intends to protect the rights of those who feel the machines will impinge on their rights. The EHRC is particularly concerned about children, the elderly, the disabled and the country’s transgender population. Group director legal at the EHRC, John Wadham said that although he recognised that the government had an obligation to do all they could to protect the lives of people flying on the world’s airlines there had to be evidence that any measures taken would be ultimately effective. Campaign director of Big Brother Watch, Dylan Sharpe agreed with Mr. Wadham. He said that the new scanners which are capable of taking nude images of those who pass through them are not one hundred percent fail-safe. He raised concerns that the machines could be too heavily relied on by airport staff and that they should not be rolled out simply as a sign that the government is doing something to counter the threat of terrorism.
The new full-body scanners are being touted as one of the ways the alleged attack on a Northwest Airlines jet bound for Detroit on Christmas Day could have been thwarted.
Other privacy groups as well as manufacturers have welcomed the EHCR’s questioning of the governments airport safety strategy and said that although the protection of passengers is of paramount importance the issue must be widely and publically debated.
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