LAX Readies 'Strip Search' Scans

New technology will allow screeners at Los Angeles International Airport to scan passengers with a device that effectively looks beneath their clothes, the LA Times reports. The “whole body imaging” machines are drawing mixed reviews—a TSA spokesman praised the "brand-new security tool," but an ACLU rep compared a scan to a “high-tech strip-search.”

“It's embarrassing and extremely violating,” said one passenger. Although passengers' faces are blurred and images are not retained, privacy advocates aren't reassured. “We would not have put the technology in place if we could not protect the privacy of passengers,” said the TSA rep, who said the machines will improve security. (More airport security stories.)