Legal Research

X-Ray Vans Challenge Privacy

By Simon Fodden

Forbes published a story online yesterday about the use of “backscatter x-ray vision” in mobile vans. This scanning technology is the same as that employed at some airports, enabling authorities to see through clothing and luggage. The article features the product being advertized and sold by American Science and Engineering, which has sold more than 500 of the scanners. Their (in my view, creepy) promotional video is embedded below:

The backscatter technology and safety are discussed in the Wikipedia article on the subject.

The use of this technology creates obvious privacy problems, particularly when wielded by or on behalf of governments, as is likely to be the case most of the time. Canada’s Privacy Commissioner has addressed the use of “millimetre-wave full body scans” — a somewhat more powerful version of this technology — for airport searches:

In planning for the deployment of the first 44 of these scanners, the federal government pledged to implement the program in a way that respects people?s privacy and dignity.

Here?s what the government promised:

- Passengers selected for secondary screening, either at random or for cause, can choose to pass through the scanner or to undergo a physical search (see previous section.)
- No personal information, such as the passenger?s name, boarding pass number or passport information, is associated with the scanned image.
- The security officer with the passenger doesn?t see the scan, while the official viewing the scan cannot see the passenger.
- Images are examined for concealed threats and immediately deleted. They are not recorded or stored for future use.

So far as I know, she has not yet said anything about the mobile use of x-ray scanning.

Full post as published by Slaw.ca on August 25, 2010 (boomark / email).