High-tech body scanners invade NYC-area airports

Newark Liberty International Airport today became the first New York-area airport to install body scanning technology to replace a system that was harshly criticized for invading privacy by displaying naked images, the Associated Press reports.

Transportation Security Administration officials unveiled the software at the airport where more than 8 million passengers boarded planes last year. The technology was tested in February at Atlanta, Las Vegas, and Washington, D.C., and rolled out in July
In all, the technology will be installed in 241 security machines at 40 airports around the country over the next few months, AP says. The agency plans to install it in all airports eventually.

The new system uses a screen that displays a gray silhouette of a generic body. The screen is placed at security checkpoints in a spot where both the traveler and the security agent can see it.
Under the previous system, the images of travelers' bodies were displayed in a separate room, where a TSA officer would radio the officer at the checkpoint that a traveler was carrying an item that needed to be scanned. The new system speeds that process by using the yellow boxes to display the exact locations of the offending items, according to Donald Drummer, the airport's federal security director.