Editorial: Please don’t touch me there

Flying home for Thanksgiving? Prepare to choose between a controversial Advanced Imaging… Flying home for Thanksgiving? Prepare to choose between a controversial Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) screening and a rather thorough pat down.

According to CNN, an increasing number of pilots and passengers are revolting against the Transportation Security Administration’s full-body scanning and what many consider intrusive pat downs.

Although the radiation emitted by the scanners presents health concerns, some passengers worry more about their right to privacy.

The TSA scanners have been referred to as “porno” scanners and “virtual strip-searches” by their critics. After looking at the images the scanners produce, we concluded that they look sort of like pictures of naked Barbie and Ken dolls and therefore aren’t that worried.

As for the new body searches, The Washington Post reports that “the examinations routinely involve the touching of breasts and genitals” and “entail a sliding hand motion on parts of the body where a lighter touch was used before.”

Though these measures wouldn’t prevent us from flying, taking these safety precautions any further would undoubtedly lead to a lowering of U.S. citizens’ quality of life, all because of fear. If we fear terrorism so much that we are hypothetically willing to strip down in an airport, there’s a problem.

Some feel the measures have already gone too far. The Washington Post reported that the website for a group called “We Won’t Fly” has received more 70,000 hits a day since going online a week ago. According to The Post, it “asks passengers to say no to scans and pat-downs and for TSA to remove its ‘porno-scanners’ and ‘gropers.’”

But a USA Today/Gallup poll finds that 78 percent of respondents said they approve of using the scanners even if the machine compromises privacy.

As far as health issues are concerned, the TSA website reports that “a single scan using backscatter technology produces exposure [to radiation] equivalent to two minutes of flying on an airplane, and the energy projected by millimeter wave technology is thousands of times less than a cell phone transmission.”

According to the TSA website, 65 major airports currently use the AIT screening — including Pittsburgh International Airport and Philadelphia International Airport. Overall, we support scanning.