Dutch airports to use strip search machines on all US flights

An Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) investigation shows that the US Government is saving strip search photos of travelers:

"A letter to EPIC reveals that the government agency possesses about 2,000 body scanner photos from devices that the DHS said earlier 'could not store or record images.'"

Source:
http://epic.org/2010/04/epic-v-homeland-security-gover.html

Complaints by travelers include women being electronically strip searched by men without being told in advance:
http://epic.org/foia_1/gov20/WBI_Complaints_Highlights_1.pdf

Guaranteed privacy disaster with no real increase to safety.

One problem for me is where is the line going to be drawn? There already exists technology to see through walls (video below). If it's okay to electronically strip search everyone without suspicion, why not also use ground or air vehicles to routinely look inside private homes, vehicles, and businesses?

Example:

IMHO, liberty has to be defended at all levels and a warning flag should go up as the first bits are chipped away. Technology like this is useful for protecting the public, but society needs to be diligent that basic rights are not violated in the process. It's a very steep and dangerous slope. The 4th Amendment of the US Constitution (against unreasonable search and seizure) exists for a reason.

The argument for destroying privacy/liberty always begins with, "it's for your protection." :)

The electronic strip-search technology has already been bypassed, so machines are probably not going to make any difference:
http://theweek.com/article/index/105999/Al_Qaedas_breast_implant_bombers

Also, I imagine that a voyeuristic job like looking at images of naked people all day would attract unsavory characters. Nudity is fine, but does that make it okay to put voyeur cameras in bathroom stalls? There is a basic right to privacy/dignity. Why do travelers complain that the US fingerprints them when they enter the country? It's just a fingerprint :)

Is it okay to physically remove the clothes of every person that enters the US? Why is electronically doing it (and recording it) any less violating? (Especially where men are electronically strip searching women.)

As several bloggers have mentioned -- who would want their kids going through a device that records naked photographs of them, knowing what kind of people that job is going to attract.

Other abuses:
http://gizmodo.com/5501485/airport-employee-abused-body-scanner-to-get-a-naughty-look-at-a-coworker

I dont buy the slippery slope argument - if they start scanning homes etc, then thats a very different kettle of fish. this isnt really any greater infringement of your rights than existed earlier - when strip searching was possible and bag scanning routine - its just far more efficient.

The people who remove privacy rights typically know that people adjust to the change in stages. One example is Gmail advertising where Google electronically scans the contents of e-mails to build a personal profile of you so that they can deliver targeted ads.

There was initially a lot of online outrage at Gmail, but now people are used to that and have moved on to the next steps -- like publicly announcing where they are at all times online on sites like Foursquare or Google Latitude. Here's someone announcing on the front page of one of the top 1000 most trafficked website that he is at Barnes & Noble in Huntington Station New York right at this moment:

(The danger)

My example is just to show that people get desensitized to privacy violations. If people decide (as a whole) that it is okay for the government to electronically strip-search everyone who passes through an airport, I think it paves the way for the use of the technology in other parts of society. It's more difficult to stop the trend once it gains momentum, especially when presented in the name of "safety" and with euphemisms like "whole body scanners".

The difference between this and, to take your example of fingerprinting, is that my being fingerprinted cannot have any demonstratable preventative benefit. it can only be used ex post should i be implicated in a crime (its also the government holding onto my details rather than a private firm, makes quite a difference).

Unless the electronic strip-search machines images will be used for future biometric databases in situations where facial recognition technology can't work. :)

I'm not saying they will be, but is not a far step to apply current facial recognition technology to new purposes.

"For our safety," why not put the strip-search machines at sports stadiums and scan everyone to identify them like they did here? Facial recognition technology is more limited than electronic strip searches.
(This is a possible intermediate step of the steep slope mentioned previously.)

Or use backscatter vans to identify people inside passing vehicles by using databases developed through airport scanners?

The US Government (and probably Netherlands and UK too) control the images. Though I might be more worried about a private US company with these machines than even the government, just based on the behavior/philosophy of certain companies. (It could even be said that some of these companies are our government to some extent.)

what irks most travelers about this, isnt an issue of rights but of courtesy and expedience. nobody minds showing their passport, but the treatment by customs officials (often in the US, but potentially anywhere) can create a horrid impression. it was part of the reason chicago didnt get the olympics - treating your guests like criminals upon arrival, slowing down their entry for no good reason and charging them for the privilege is no way to make friends.

I agree about Chicago... the fingerprinting doesn't really slow down the lines though. (I had it done to me a couple of times in Japan.)

I assumed that most travelers didn't like being fingerprinted because it is a violation of dignity, and the creepy collection of biometric information by a foreign government for unknown purposes.

but itsnt a scanner like this also treating people like criminals? yes and no. did you feel like your rights were being infringed when simple metal detectors where used? when your bag was x-rayed?

Good point -- but the line has to be drawn somewhere. There is a big difference between a policeman asking to look into your backpack, or strip searching you, or pulling out the rubber glove. :)
I think the line should be drawn at strip searching which is where the greatest potential for abuse begins.

(Disclaimer: I'm not a conspiracy theorist; I just follow electronic privacy issues.)

I dont buy the slippery slope argument - if they start scanning homes etc, then thats a very different kettle of fish.

They're getting ready to scan homes in the US with aerial drones:

[INDENT]Local media exposed what was supposed to be a secret maiden flight & demonstration. The UAV has onboard cameras that the report says have the capability to look into your home (through the walls & ceiling) and see what the occupants are doing. It is likely the cameras use a combination of IR, radar, and a form of 'backscatter' X-Ray.[/INDENT]