Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18335 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 8:23 pm Post subject: New scanners break child porn laws
New scanners break child porn laws
* Alan Travis, home affairs editor
* guardian.co.uk, Monday 4 January 2010 22.14 GMT
A 12-month trial at Manchester airport of full body scanners only went ahead last month after under-18s were exempted. Photograph: Paul Ellis
The rapid introduction of full body scanners at British airports threatens to breach child protection laws which ban the creation of indecent images of children, the Guardian has learned.
Privacy campaigners claim the images created by the machines are so graphic they amount to "virtual strip-searching" and have called for safeguards to protect the privacy of passengers involved.
Ministers now face having to exempt under 18s from the scans or face the delays of introducing new legislation to ensure airport security staff do not commit offences under child pornography laws.
They also face demands from civil liberties groups for safeguards to ensure that images from the £80,000 scanners, including those of celebrities, do not end up on the internet. The Department for Transport confirmed that the "child porn" problem was among the "legal and operational issues" now under discussion in Whitehall after Gordon Brown's announcement on Sunday that he wanted to see their "gradual" introduction at British airports.
A 12-month trial at Manchester airport of scanners which reveal naked images of passengers including their genitalia and breast enlargements, only went ahead last month after under-18s were exempted.
The decision followed a warning from Terri Dowty, of Action for Rights of Children, that the scanners could breach the Protection of Children Act 1978, under which it is illegal to create an indecent image or a "pseudo-image" of a child.
Dowty told the Guardian she raised concerns with the Metropolitan police five years ago over plans to use similar scanners in an anti-knife campaign, and when the Department for Transport began a similar trial in 2006 on the Heathrow Express rail service from Paddington station.
"They do not have the legal power to use full body scanners in this way," said Dowty, adding there was an exemption in the 1978 law to cover the "prevention and detection of crime" but the purpose had to be more specific than the "trawling exercise" now being considered.
A Manchester airport spokesman said their trial had started in December, but only with passengers over 18 until the legal situation with children was clarified. So far 500 people have taken part on a voluntary basis with positive feedback from nearly all those involved.
Passengers also pass through a metal detector before they can board their plane. Airport officials say the scanner image is only seen by a single security officer in a remote location before it is deleted.
A Department for Transport spokesman said: "We understand the concerns expressed about privacy in relation to the deployment of body scanners. It is vital staff are properly trained and we are developing a code of practice to ensure these concerns are properly taken into account. Existing safeguards also mean those operating scanners are separated from the device, so unable to see the person to whom the image relates, and these anonymous images are deleted immediately."
But Shami Chakrabarti, of Liberty, had concerns over the "instant" introduction of scanners: "Where are the government assurances that electronic strip-searching is to be used in a lawful and proportionate and sensitive manner based on rational criteria rather than racial or religious bias?" she said.
Her concerns were echoed by Simon Davies of Privacy International who said he was sceptical of the privacy safeguards being used in the United States. Although the American system insists on the deletion of the images, he believed scans of celebrities or of people with unusual or freakish body profiles would prove an "irresistible pull" for some employees.
The disclosures came as Downing Street insisted British intelligence information that the Detroit plane suspect tried to contact radical Islamists while a student in London was passed on to the US.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's name was included in a dossier of people believed to have made attempts to deal with extremists, but he was not singled out as a particular risk, Brown's spokesman said.
President Barack Obama has criticised US intelligence agencies for failing to piece together information about the 23-year-old that should have stopped him boarding the flight.
Brown's spokesman said "There was security information about this individual's activities and that was shared with the US authorities."
Joined: 27 Mar 2006 Posts: 3187 Location: Here to help!
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 3:08 pm Post subject:
Quote:
But Shami Chakrabarti, of Liberty, had concerns over the "instant" introduction of scanners: "Where are the government assurances that electronic strip-searching is to be used in a lawful and proportionate and sensitive manner based on rational criteria rather than racial or religious bias?" she said.
As an aside its not very often I hear Shami Chakrabarti question whether something is lawful (instead of legal)
Things are looking up:) _________________ Free your Self and Free the World
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 1959 Location: South London
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 3:52 pm Post subject:
In my understanding "lawful" implies it does not breach civil law. Such a breach would be a tort and could result in a private civil action leading to damages. "Legal" implies not a breach of criminal law, which would lead to a prosecution and a determination of guilt or innocence.
Was that the point you were making about Chackrabarti's terminology here?
Digital STRIP SEARCH – Invert Airport Body Scanner Image to Show NAKED Bodies In Full Living COLOR!
The full body scanners that President Obama last night authorized to be rolled out in airports across the country ... not only produce detailed pictures of your genitals, but once inverted some of those images also display YOUR NAKED BODY in full living COLOR.
...to pull off the trick ... is a simple process that takes one click and is an option available even in the most BASIC image editing software.
...Airport screeners will have access to huge HIGH DEFINATION (sic) images that, once inverted, will allow them to see every minute detail of your body.
Full text and explicit picture of ( over-18 ) naked woman shown at the link below.
Friday 19 February 2010
AirportScanners - epetition response
We received a petition asking:
“We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to abandon the proposed rollout of airport body scanners.”
Details of Petition:
“Proposed body scanners that give airport staff images of passengers as if they were naked are too intrusive, too similar to strip searches. By all means prevent terrorism, but not by all means. Since the very beginning of human history, we have been keen to keep our nudity to ourselves, and this step has crossed the line between safety and freedom: safety must not come at the cost of all freedom. And airport staff being only human, even if professional, will be unable to resist focusing on attractive people, particularly in the early days of the technology.”
· Read the petition
· Petitions homepage
Read the Government’s response
In response to the attempted terrorist attack on Northwest flight 253 to Detroit on Christmas Day 2009 the Government implemented a package of measures to enhance the protection of the travelling public. The introduction of Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT), more commonly known as bodyscanners, is one of several additional screening methods that were introduced in response to the attempted terrorist attack.
The Government is clear that all security measures must be proportionate, justifiable and respect human rights. To this end we have introduced extensive safeguards to ensure that passengers’ privacy is respected if they are selected to be screened by an AIT machine.
These safeguards include:
•All images are viewed remotely from the machine, and are deleted immediately after analysis;
•Images can’t be recovered at a later date from the machines;
•The image produced does not show any distinguishing features such as hair or skin tone and it is not possible to recognise people from their facial features;
•Only security vetted and trained security staff employed by the airport will be able to view the images; and
•Security staff viewing images will be separate from, and not be able to identify, the persons whose image they are viewing.
The Government has introduced an Interim Code of Practice covering privacy, health and safety, data protection and equality issues. The Code will require airports to undertake scanning sensitively, having regard to the rights of passengers. It is available on the Department for Transport’s website at:
A full public consultation on the requirements relating to the use of scanners as set out in the interim code of practice will begin as soon as is practicable. The Department for Transport will consider all representations carefully before preparing a final code of practice. _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
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