Full Body Scanners

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Ever since September 11, 2001, airport security has worked promptly to increase its protection policies. Are they now taking it too far? In the past ten years, American citizens have become more and more angry with the outrageous and time-consuming security checks that have been occurring at airports. Although supporters of the full body scanners claim that the scanners will double airport security, critics complain that the new full-body scanners have many down sides too them. Not only do full body scanners violate a citizen’s privacy and work inefficiently, but prejudice accusations and the cost of these machines also play an important role in whether these are necessary. Opponents of full body scanners have many vital points to why full body scanners are wrong; one being the fact that it violates an individual’s privacy. Defenders of the scanner state that it is just a reflexive image of the traveler, that it is seen only by that airport official, and then it is disposed, keeping this information private. The Electronic Privacy Information Center and the American Civil Liberties Union said that the scanners will violate Americans’ privacy rights and the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures. Body scanners that peer through clothes are deployed in airports across the country. Travelers who object are subject to "enhanced" pat-downs. Parents watch as their children are groped before boarding a plane. The elderly are asked to raise their arms high above their heads so that the body scanners can capture a naked image of a 78-year-old man or an 81-year-old woman. No other country in the world subjects its air travelers to the combination of screening procedures that Americans are being asked to endure. Supporters of full-body scanners frequently say that Americans should not be angered by these machines because it is

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