EU committee warns against use of body scanners

The European Commission is too focused on using body scanners in airports, and is ignoring potential issues around human rights and health risks, according to a group of politicians.

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) said that the EC is failing to give enough thought to more traditional methods of combating terrorism in favour of installing the body scanner devices.

"The EC is focused too much on technology, and erroneously downplays the importance of enhanced intelligence-sharing and human factor analysis," said the EESC's Bernardo Hernández Bataller.

The EESC fears that body scanners represent an invasion of privacy, and infringe on fundamental rights if images are not properly stored, printed or disseminated.

The group cited a case in Florida when 35,000 images from body scanners were retained by security agents and posted on the internet.

The EESC also pointed out that there is no conclusive proof that scanners do not pose a health risk, and that specific rules are needed to govern how vulnerable passengers such as pregnant women, children and the disabled use the technology.

Furthermore, the EESC criticised the EC's move to change the term 'body scanners' to 'security scanners', which it claimed is designed to make the technology more "politically attractive".

The use of body scanning technology has grown since a terrorist attempted to blow up an aircraft on its way to Detroit on 25 December 2009.

Many organisations have since voiced concerns about the technology. A Civil Liberties Committee of MEPs argued last year that body scanners should not become the "religion of counter-terrorism".

However, research conducted by Unisys in April 2010 found that 90 per cent of UK citizens are willing to undergo full electronic body scans at airports to ensure a safe flight.