TSA tests devices that can penetrate clothing

The Transportation Security Administration is planning to expand a test of see-through passenger screening technology to Los Angeles International Airport, according to American Science and Engineering, Inc., the vendor of the SmartCheck Personnel Screening System. The TSA started testing the company’s screening devices in Phoenix several months ago, raising some eyebrows because the technology essentially sees through clothing to detect any weapons, metal or otherwise, that might be hidden beneath them. At Phoenix, passengers who were selected for a secondary screening were given the option of a traditional physical pat-down by a TSA agent, or a walk through the SmartCheck screener. “To date, approximately 90 percent of passengers have opted for screening using SmartCheck rather than undergoing a pat-down,” the company said. The vendor notes that its system includes a number of privacy safeguards for passengers; for example, the officer who views the screen display is at a remote location so he never sees the person face to face; the display provides only an outline of the person, “more like a chalk drawing than a real person,” the company said; and the system cannot store images.