Posted by: Lindsay C on: January 21, 2010
This article was originally from The Globe and Mail and released by The Canadian Press on January 18th, 2009.
A survey was conducted by the Canadian Press about whether Canadians would accept the new airport scanners. From the poll it states that four out of five Canadians said the scanners were reasonable. Also from the study, three-quarters of the Canadians for the scanners said that the scanners will decrease the chance of terrorist attacks. In the article it also states that the numbers suggest Canadians feel airport security should be as strict as it needs to. Forty-four of these three-dimensional screens are planned to be installed across the country. The government announced there plans for the installation just before the poll was conducted. Trial runs were conducted at Kelowna, B.C airport. This three millimeter-wave scanners are to detect for possible explosives; for instance the explosives that were sewn on a Nigerian man’s underwear on Christmas day in Detroit. According to the article many from every demographic are in support for these new scanners but support lacked in British Columbia. These scanners will provide a fairly detailed outline of a person’s body and the officials will be in a separate room, to keep privacy. But people under the age of 18 will not be required to go through these scanners but will have to go through a pat-down. The poll also shows that Canadians (three to one) would rather the body scanners than a pat-down. It also shows that one-quarter of the Canadians surveyed felt uncomfortable with the idea. The study shows that women and people aged 65 and older were more likely that others to feel leery. The ability as to whether these scanners will detect deadly weapons is up for debate between security analysts and civil rights advocates. “Opinion is split over whether this decision was an overreaction to the failed attack on Christmas day,” said Harris-Decima senior vice-president Doug Anderson. Over 1,000 Canadians were surveyed by Harris-Decima by telephone. The article also includes that the survey has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points 19 times in 20.
This story is important because it affects everyone; anyone who fly’s or who plans to. This isn’t just a regular pat-down; it’s a full body scanner. Canadians should be aware of the new technology that’s being implemented in Canadian airports. Not mention the price tag on this new technology. For the 44 full body scanners it will cost the government $11 million dollars.
The idea of full body scanners in airports seems to be a good idea. It’s another safety precaution that flyers will have to go through before reaching the plane. But really, someone being able to see through people’s clothes is a little unsettling. Wouldn’t that be considered a privacy issue? It seems that four out of 5 Canadians feel that these full body scanners are reasonable. So should the people who find it unsettling just let it go? Baring all for one person to see, I can see the reason to feel a tad bit uncomfortable. It almost makes a person think twice before purchasing a plane ticket.
Well, a person could always say no to the full body scanner. But wouldn’t that be just a giant target on a person’s back? There might be a chance of being led into a tiny room for several hours just because a person said no.
Aside from all the benefits that this machine has. What’s to say that it will work? All the other safety precautions have been tested and apparantely they aren’t effective. It also makes a person wonder if the scanners are just an overreaction to what happened on Christmas day. That could be plausible; a Nigerian man had sewn explosives on his underwear on a Detroit flight and was boarded on the plane. Makes a person stop and think how the hell did that happen? It’s almost similar to what happened after 9 11, when all the new safety precautions were implemented and when certain items were no longer allowed to be on the plane. Everyone accepted this because of what happened and it was for everyone’s best interest.
Not to mention the fact that these scanners are not cheap, in a December 29th, 2009 article in the Globe and Mail, it states that these machines cost $190,000 each. Talk about big bucks. The government is spending $11 billion dollars for 44 machines for across the country. How much more is the government willing to spend on airport security as time goes on? Well the government will spend as much money as they want if it’s in the benefit for the people of course.
Also, now that the government is implementing these $11 million dollars scanners in every airport, what’s stopping the government from taking security measures further? As time goes on, will the security measures inflict more so on people’s privacy than they do already? No one knows that answer, until the time comes. But it’s a possibility and something to think about.
It all comes down to would a person rather feel safe than sorry?
January 26, 2010 at 3:50 am
[...] above was written based on the work of Lindsay Craggs Published [...]