However, despite the obvious benefits for passenger air travel safety, the new scanners have caused dissatisfaction not only among passengers but also among some officials. First, it is still unclear whether the radiation to which people are subjected during scanning causes any harm to their health. Second, the use of scanners may violate the law on privacy – one of the most important for every European.
The new technology was also tested in the fourth terminal of London's Heathrow Airport. Passengers were scanned in special booths – using electromagnetic waves that produced a three-dimensional image of the human body. The experiment drew a wave of criticism from privacy advocates. The word 'naked' is not figurative when applied to the image transmitted by the scanner: the black-and-white picture shows everything, including genitals. British opponents of the new airport screening technology demanded a ban on such scanners in the UK, reports Travel.ru citing The Daily Telegraph.