Full body scanners to debut at airport

NEW DELHI: India’s aviation safety regulator has decided to install full body scanners at the Delhi airport which will produce a “mannequin-like” image instead of

NEW DELHI: India’s aviation safety regulator has decided to install full body scanners at the Delhi airport which will produce a “mannequin-like” image instead of revealing real body parts.

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Full body scanners can show the full contours of the body and help security agencies detect foreign objects being carried by a passenger but privacy advocates have opposed the technology, saying it is too intrusive.

After a debate over the use of technology in India, the Bureau for Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has settled for machines which produce mannequin-like images.

The agency will install the machine on trial basis at Terminal 3 of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA). Sources said US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has signed an agreement with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to provide body scanners for airports.

Sources said that BCAS is ready to “bring in” the technology by the end of this year. “The specifications of the scanners have been finalised in the meeting with USTDA,” said an official, requesting anonymity.

“The US agency has agreed to bring one body scanner for trial. We will conduct a trial run at Terminal 3 for a week and then the government will come up with a policy,” the official said.

“Irrespective of the controversy surrounding it, we wanted to use the technology at the sensitive airports. A discussion to install shoe scanner was also held,” the official said.

Initially, going through full body scanners will be voluntary for the passengers. Only “suspicious” passengers will be asked to go through the scanner.

Few years ago, a similar trial was conducted at the Delhi airport. A US-based company had installed a body scanner which could detect contraband and explosives.

A survey conducted during the first phase of the trial run showed that 90% of the passengers felt the new technology was good for security but only 40% of them volunteered to go through the body scanner.

The scanning, which does not take more than a minute, also comes with privacy filters, the use of which is optional for the official running the machine. The body scanner can reveal plastic and liquid explosive, composite weapons, plastic and metal guns, contraband, ceramic and metal knives, box cutters, precious metals and recording devices.