SARASOTA AIRPORT UNVEILS NEW BODY-SCANNING TECHNOLOGY

TECHNOLOGY: Scanners don't create nude image but fail to satisfy privacy groups

SARASOTA COUNTY - New technology means travelers at Sarasota's airport will no longer be seen in nude silhouette when they pass through body- screening machines.

And updated baggage scanners are expected to speed up the processing of carry-on bags and checked luggage at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport.

Transportation Safety Administration officials announced the changes Monday and demonstrated the new technologies, which have been in use at Tampa International Airport since mid-August.

The new software on millimeter-wave machines, which peer through clothes for weapons and explosives, has been operating without incident for weeks, TSA officials said.

SRQ quietly began using the new technology several weeks ago. It is among the latest airports to adopt the changes, which eventually will be made to all similar scanning machines nationwide.

Previously, a TSA worker in a separate room viewed the clothesless images of screened travelers, a setup that led one privacy advocacy group to file a lawsuit.

Now, a screen at the machine that the traveler can view will display only the word "OK" on an otherwise blank green screen when no threats are detected.

If the machine does detect a threat, then the screen will display the same generic outline for all passengers and highlight an area of the passenger's body that requires additional screening.

The software, being installed on 241 millimeter-wave machines at 40 airports nationwide at a cost of $2.7 million, means the machine no longer creates that nude outline image, said Gary Milano, TSA security director for the greater Tampa Bay region.

"It enhances privacy, while at the same time maintains the same level of security we had," Milano said.

The move has not yet satisfied privacy advocates. The Electronic Privacy Information Center, which previously filed a lawsuit to stop the use of body scanners at airports, says TSA has not provided records on how the software works.

"If the software is simply an overlay which still permits the machines to capture, store, or transfer the graphic naked image, then it doesn't solve the privacy problems created by these machines," EPIC staff counsel Ginger McCall wrote in an email statement.

Officials also announced that upgraded baggage scanners for both carry-on and checked baggage at SRQ give TSA workers a better view of the contents.

Fewer bags will need to be hand-searched at the security checkpoint, possibly leading to shorter lines. New "diverter rollers" will separate carry-on bags that need to be hand-searched from those that passed the initial screening.

"It's faster than it used to be," Milano said.