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What the

This is a metal detector.


Don’t mistake a body scanner for a metal detector.
TSA, Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT), and You

How will your child’s

You have a choice between AIT/WBI and a patdown.


AIT images look? Transportation
Security
Administration

?
isn’t telling you ...

Millimeter wave

These are AIT/WBI machines.


Backscatter X-ray
A reduced resolution sample from a MMW AIT/WBI machine. Full resolution images have not
been released. [Public Domain/TSA]

Don’t like these AIT


images?

“Additionally, advanced imaging technology screening is optional


to all passengers.” <http://www.tsa.gov/approach/tech/ait/>
Need reasons? Read this brochure.
To opt out for a pat down,
Opt out for a pat down.
You have the right.
Say “I opt out.”
say “I opt out.”

Unlike a pat down (treatment for an inconclusive imaging


session), consenting to an Advanced Imaging Technol-
ogy (AIT) / Whole Body Imaging (WBI) session imposes
additional risks (e.g., health, privacy, and property) with

Please read this brochure to learn more about the TSA,


AIT/WBI, and you. A reduced resolution sample from a backscatter X-ray AIT/WBI machine, dating
from 2006. Full resolution images have not been released. [John Wild/johnwild.info]
Did you give informed consent for an AIT session? Millimeter wave machines use active millimeter waves for TSA, Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT), and You
imaging and their health risks have not been characterized.
No? Opt out for a pat down. You have the right.
wrote, “the devices haven’t been thor-
Say “I opt out.”
Unlike a pat down (treatment for an inconclusive imaging FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, Com-
session), consenting to an Advanced Imaging Technology merce Department’s NIST, and JHU’s Applied Physics
Laboratory to be resulting from “test[ing] only one thing
document helpful?
— whether the amount of radiation emitted,” meets ANSI
guidelines.2
Pat downs are no longer the simple search like those in the
past. In some instances, as part of an “enhanced patdown,”
Pass it on.
the TSA screener may use the front of their hands to touch
your genitals. Should you feel that you or your child were
requests for test information regarding “body scanners and
radiation emission or exposure.”3
Educate others.
Privacy risks
If presented with the option to leave the checkpoint for a
private screening, consider politely declining with a “No, AIT machines provide operators with an image of your Give this brochure to a
thank you,” as you will likely be asked to remove your cloth-
ing. Pat downs can be performed in public view.
body, exposing attributes such as deformities and genitalia
size while revealing what is beneath your clothing. Detected friend or fellow stranger.
medical devices may prompt a full body search along with
questions about medical history.
San Diego Entertainer notes, “the scans are detailed Remember, you have the
that the imaged areas, which do not include fat folds or enough to identify a person’s gender ... to identify a passen-
body cavities, appear to be normal. Unlike existing metal ger’s surgery scars, or to discern whether a woman is on her right to opt out for a pat
detectors or explosives detection machines, AIT machines menstrual cycle or not.”4
do not detect metal or explosives.
Rolando Negrin, a TSA screener, was ridiculed by other
down.
screeners for having a small penis after being imaged by an
Risks
Health risks
AIT device. Say “I opt out.”
Images from AIT devices may also be stored by the TSA or
Backscatter X-ray machines use ionizing radiation, a
cumulative, known health hazard, for imaging. Children, images may be the Ivy League nude posture images of our
pregnant women, and those with defective DNA repair generation.
mutations are considered to be especially susceptible to
DNA damage. Property risks
More information is available on the Internet:
Several University of California, San Francisco faculty
• dontscan.us
members, in a letter of concern, state “there is good reason maintain a clear line of sight to your property as your items
• nudeoscope.org
to believe that these scanners will increase the risk of cancer enter and exit the X-ray scanner.
• thousandsstandingaround.org
to children and other vulnerable populations,” and recom-
Under these conditions, your property is susceptible to theft
mend the re-evaluation of the “potential health issues [they]
have raised before there are irrevocable long-term conse-
of your wallet, jewelry, and items in your pockets, as these • TSA: Request a complaint form at the checkpoint
quences to the health of our country.1
items must be removed before entering an AIT scanner. from a supervisor
physicians have also noted that the comparison of backscat-
• ACLU: https://secure.aclu.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=
ter X-ray machine dosage to “cosmic ray exposure inherent
2. , September 7, 2010, “Are Scanners Worth the Risk?” watchlist_survey
to airplane travel or that of a chest X-ray,’’ is “very mislead- 3. epic.org/privacy/body_scanners/Body_Scan_Rad_Appeal.pdf • EPIC: https://epic.org/bodyscanner/incident_report
ing,” while “real independent safety data do not exist.”1 4. San Diego Entertainer, August 31, 2010; sdentertainer.com/news/tsa-
1. npr.org/assets/news/2010/05/17/concern.pdf installs-body-scanners-san-diego-international-airport/

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