Security scan

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The security scan is a device to frisk a person without making physical contact.

One technology is the Millimetre Wave Scanner, in which extremely high frequency radio waves are reflected off the body to make an image on which one can see anything hidden under the clothes. Unlike the X ray radiation used to scan luggage, this radiation is said to be harmless. Two advantages over a frisk are that it is quicker (takes only 3 seconds) and that people do not have to be touched in a manner that some might consider offensive. A disadvantage is that the scan results in an image of the naked body, albeit of low quality.

Schiphol in the Netherlands was the first airport in the world to implement this device on a large scale after a test with flight personnel the previous year. On May 15, 2007 two of 17 purchased security scans were installed. Because of the privacy issue, people are allowed to refuse this scan and opt for a traditional frisk. Also, the head is excluded from the scan and the images are instantly erased. The analyst is in a different room and can't see the person being scanned, but is in contact with other officials who can halt the scanned person if anything suspicious shows up on the scan.

Another technology is the Backscatter X-ray.