From the FDA Web Site:
Stop spreading unsubstantiated rumours. People are exposed to background radiation daily. When in flight you are exposed to increased levels of radiation. Some calculations have deduced that the amount of radiation exposure from a backscatter X-ray is equivalent to 2 to 4 minutes of flight time.
It is a non-issue. A HUGE non-issue.
It’s not a case of feeling uncomfortable with my body. I like my body fine but it sure as hell isn’t for you to see, thanks very much. I don’t like the idea of having someone sitting in a booth looking at my nipples - if I did, I’d have chosen a far different profession.
I don’t like either option. I don’t want to be looked at “naked” or be rubbed down by strangers. I don’t think we’re increasing safety by adding these measures. As has been mentioned, Someone’s going to take out a plane with an assload of explosives someday - then what? Rectal probes set up right after the scanners? Not to mention the fact that there are still subways and bridges and all sorts of other things to blow up. I’m going to be driving more and trying not to bother with airports at all, because I don’t want to deal with the bullshit. If I had to choose… I don’t know. The pat-down is less invasive because nobody’s seeing my boobs, but someone’s touching me instead. I guess it depends on the employee, but you can’t know beforehand.
I think the new scans and patdowns are too great an invasion of privacy than can be honestly justified in the name of safety.
If I had a choice, I’d pick the pat down. When I turned 40 this year, the doctor stuck his fat finger up my you know what, so a pat down is no biggie.
I probably wouldn’t mind the body scan either, expect I’m not convinced that it’s entirely safe.
If the TSA really needs to see nude images of a short chunky middle aged man, who am I to hinder the process?
I feel the same way. Either method is intrusive and unecessary.
I hope I never have to fly again.
Just went thru a scanner at SJU 10 minutes ago. Biggest actual annoyance was the insistence on totally emptied pockets (just transferred everything to my coat pockets and sent that through). No hostility detected, but 1045 on a Tuesday is on the light side of traffic anyway. The TSA crew on shift seemed cool and respectful. Of course, over at Concourse B there could be chaos for all I know.
Meh, I can live with the scan. I’m already accepting an exposure above background by flying at all.
For the last 8 years my wife has had no choice but to submit to the pat down every single time she flys. Her artificial knees set off detectors and the pat down is what is required. She would gladly do the body scan if allowed to do so.
Indeed. I hope ‘Vision’ is part of their benefits package. The next time I fly, I fully expect to hear screams & see eye-balls turn white. 
Of the two I’d choose to be scanned. Hadn’t thought about possible side effects for frequent travellers. I only fly a few times a year.
I think our privacy is largely illusory nayway. Whichever option becomes the norm, I’ll just go with it and try and manage my own stuff so I can get through it quickly and painlessly, with no effects on my fellow travellers.
My hope is that people can just roll with it. We’ve been taking our shoes off at security for what, nine years? Yet there’s always at least one gasbag huffing about having to untie or whatnot. Get some slipons and shaddap already. This isn’t new.
And the people who are planning their grassroots mess with the TSA movement need a stern talking to. That is misguided. I assume they all still need to get where they’re going. They might think it’s fine to screw it up for themselves, but how wrong is it to mess with other people. Travelling at peak times is brutal enough without someone deliberately setting out to make it more difficult.
I really don’t care either way, but would opt for the scan because hopefully it would be faster. In my experiences traveling internationally, intimate pat downs are the norm (I remember a VERY touchy-feely guy in Amsterdam and a serious pat down in an airport in India).
As far as some guy seeing my naked body on a scanner - for me, it’s a big “so?” My face isn’t recognizable, he’s not really seeing ME naked, he’s seeing a blurry naked lady who could be anyone. I just don’t get the fuss.
I choose none of the above. Neither is going to prevent terrorism.
Another one for option C, for reasons already elucidated above.
(I got dragged on thousands upon thousands of miles worth of int’l flights when I was a kid, and I get motion sickness easily, so I don’t exactly have the travel bug now. Any vacations I’ll be taking in the foreseeable future will be within driving distance.)
Probably go for the scan (quicker as well). Don’t mind any of it, as long as I can fly. I get more ittitated by the long lines and the waiting than the actual security check. Now if I’d be asked into a room while the security officer was puting on a rubber glove…that’s a different story.
This. I’d choose the scan over a pat down anytime, no question. I wouldn’t even care. And anyway, I read that the person who sees the scan isn’t even the person who waves you through, so it’s not like the same person would be looking at you and then see you naked and be able to connect your face with the image.
If I had to fly, I’d take the scan because it’s quicker. I hope to never fly again; I don’t need the hassle.
Well, it will stop the really stupid terrorists. There’s an article in the upcoming issue of The Atlantic called “The Things He Carried” that people should read. I’ll attempt to link to it below, but I may have access only because I’m a subscriber…
ETA: It was actually from 2008. I assumed it was new…
I got ‘lucky’ and got both, the one time I had a body scan (at BWI in July); only a partial pat-down however.
Apparently, I have dangerous-looking cellulite on my thighs. :rolleyes:
It’s not a pat-down – it’s a full search for explosive traces. Even cops aren’t allowed to search people in that level of detail in public.
The full body scan (WBI) is optional – but people who opt out many times get shamed, intimidated, and THEN the crotch search.
So option C for me.
The walk-through metal detector is even quicker, and less hassle.
I don’t care, and speed is usually more important to me, so I’ll choose the scanner. In fact, I’ve had to use the scanner the last few times I’ve tried.
Although I don’t care, there are enough other people that do care, so maybe I’ll choose the pat down next time, if I don’t feel like I’m in a hurry.