Full-body scanners must conform to EU privacy rules

THE full-body scanner that performs a virtual strip search principally at airports will have to conform to a series of rules aimed at addressing privacy fears.

Faces will be blurred, operators will not be allowed to retain images and the public must be offered an alternative, according to the new rules.

The scanners are being trialled at Dublin airport on staff on a voluntary basis before being introduced for passengers, possibly in 2014, according to the Dublin Airport Authority.

The walk-through machines are designed to identify metal and non-metal objects a person is carrying on their body and were introduced to Europe by the Netherlands after a would-be bomber got on board a plane with explosives in his underwear.

However, they have caused controversy after staff in the US and elsewhere saved virtually nude images of ordinary and famous people and traded them as porn.

To overcome this, the rules outlined by the European Commission say that the faces must be blurred; the images may not be kept, printed or distributed; and the person viewing the images must not be able to see those going through the machine.

There were also health fears, especially for machines that used X-rays, but these will not be permitted for use in the EU, under the new rules.

Helen Kearns, commission spokeswoman, said they would prefer machines to be used that show only matchstick images, but there was only one manufacturer of these at the moment.

The scanners should reduce the time taken to pass through security and people who object to them would be offered an alternative such as a physical pat-down by security staff, she said.