The Reality About Full Body Scanners

By Edward Reed


Insecurity has forced technology to grow faster than it could be. The is always a need for ensuring that people gathering at a particular place are always protected owing to the increased cases of terror attacks and possession of unacceptable devices. This makes it important that one gets general facts regarding full body scanners.

Defining what a body scanner depends on an individuals understanding of the system. However, these devices are usually some special kinds of detectors that can see through beyond what one has worn or even carried in their bodies. Using these devices eliminates the need of having to physically frisk them which at times is not convincing.

Over the past two decades, there have been increasing risky activities in planes including terror actions owing to people carrying unauthorized items that are a risk to the rest. More so, drug smuggling has been on the rise with smugglers developing newer strategies to elope with the substance unnoticeable creating a need for these devices.

In every airport, it should not be a surprise to meet any gadget in the form of a door that one is forced to pass through. These items make use of the technology of laser beams and x-rays where a ray of a particular wavelength passes through the body from head to toe. Through this, an animated image of the person scanned becomes visible to the security personnel.

Depending on the company making the device, the device can be of two folds. There are those are designed such that they can go ahead to detect and send a signal in the form of an alarm in the event of a suspicious item. On the other hand, there are those that need a person to check the image displayed to identify any unlikely item observed.

These gadgets have taken the roles that were initially played by metal detectors that were the in thing back then. Metal detectors are only limited to metals. On the other hand, scanners have the ability to identify anything even those that are not metallic. Through them, therefore, detection of drugs being trafficked is possible.

There has been a growing concern of the ethical and health issues regarding these devices. There are those who fear health hazards concerning the rays used. There are those believe that exposure to these waves has a high possibility of causing cancer which is still an ambiguous issue. More so, the aspect of privacy has always become a worry too as it can both be used for good and for bad.

The cancer issue has not been proved to be true, but the problem of privacy is well taken care of. Those working on these systems usually take a vow of secrecy as an ethical passage before getting the job. This is used as a way of protecting the privacy of the users. In the long run, terrorist actions and smuggling of drugs and weapons have been countered through the use of this system.




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