U.S. widens use of full-body scan

WASHINGTON, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Federal transportation officials said they'll add 150 full-body scanners to the 40 already operating in U.S. airports.

The move comes in response to a Nigerian man's Christmas Day attempt to bring down a Detroit-bound airliner with explosives sewn into his underwear, The Christian Science Monitor reports. Experts say the full-body screening equipment could have detected the explosives used in the alleged terror attempt but the screening equipment has been used on only a small fraction of passengers amid concerns about privacy, costs and growing lines at airport security.

The Transportation Security Administration says the 40 existing scanners are used in about 20 airports but mostly for secondary searches. The U.S. House decided last summer the machines could not be used for primary screenings, the Monitor said.

Airline security reviews ordered by President Obama are expected to include a recommendation for more widespread use of full-body scanners in U.S. airports, Politico reported.

While many called for tighter airline security, including full-body scans, critics stepped up opposition to what civil libertarians called a virtual strip search that would invade passengers' privacy.

"That degree of examination amounts to a significant -- and for some people humiliating -- assault on personal privacy to which travelers in a free country should not automatically be subjected," the American Civil Liberties Union said in a statement Wednesday.

The ACLU also questioned the effectiveness of the screening tool.

"Plastic explosives can be hidden from them, as can explosives hidden in body cavities, which al-Qaida has already used to launch attacks," the ACLU said.

Others questioned the practicality and potential of the effort to boost security.

"You would have to put (scanners) in every airport from Nantucket to Namibia to make them effective, and even then, they're not 100 percent effective," aviation expert George Hobica told the Monitor. "Small airports and foreign airports are the chink in the armor."

In the Netherlands, where Flight 253 originated, Dutch officials said airports will immediately start compulsory full-body scans of U.S.-bound travelers.

But concerns over privacy rights have slowed adoption of full-body scanning in European Union countries, the EUobserver reported.