NEW YORK, May 31 (UPI) -- U.S. travelers no longer have to submit to full-body, X-ray scanners that produce near-naked images, the Transportation Security Administration says.
A TSA representative confirmed to the New York Daily News the agency has completed the replacement of the intrusive airport security checkpoint scanners that had been in use since 2008 with new machines that offer travelers more privacy for their bodies.
The "backscatter" X-ray scanners have been supplanted by Advanced Imaging Technology equipment that produces a generic outline of a body. Potential threats show up on a screen as small yellow boxes.
TSA Administrator John Pistole told the House Homeland Security Committee the backscatter machines were removed by May 16, two weeks ahead of Friday's deadline designated by the Federal Aviation Administration.
The backscatter scanners offended some travelers because they allowed security personnel to see through clothing in such detail it created the effect of a nude image.
There also were concerns about radiation emitted by the scanners.
