page_title: Full body scanner
hierarchical_section_title: Full body scanner
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Besuch von NRW-Verkehrsminister Hendrik Wüst und Steffen Bilger, Parlamentarischer Staatssekretär beim Bundesminister für Verkehr und digitale Infrastruktur am Flughafen Köln/Bonn: Vorstellung der Sicherheitskontrollfläche Easy Security Foto: Körperscanner/Bodyscanner, Hersteller: Rohde &amp; Schwarz, Modell „R&amp;S QPS100 Quick Personnel Security Scanner“
context_page_description: A full-body scanner is a device that detects objects on or inside a person's body for security screening purposes, without physically removing clothes or making physical contact. Depending on the technology used, the operator may see an alternate-wavelength image of the person's naked body, merely a cartoon-like representation of the person with an indicator showing where any suspicious items were detected or full X-ray image of the person. Unlike metal detectors, full-body scanners can detect non-metal objects, which became an increasing concern after various airliner bombing attempts in the 2000s. Transmission X-ray body scanners can also detect swallowed items or hidden in body cavities of a person.
  Starting in 2007, full-body scanners started supplementing metal detectors at airports and train stations in many countries.
  Three distinct technologies have been used, though the use of Backscatter X-ray has now been discontinued in many countries:
  Millimeter wave scanners use non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation similar to that used by wireless data transmitters, in the Extremely High Frequency radio band.
context_section_description: A full-body scanner is a device that detects objects on or inside a person's body for security screening purposes, without physically removing clothes or making physical contact. Depending on the technology used, the operator may see an alternate-wavelength image of the person's naked body, merely a cartoon-like representation of the person with an indicator showing where any suspicious items were detected or full X-ray image of the person. For privacy and security reasons, the display is generally not visible to other passengers, and in some cases is located in a separate room where the operator cannot see the face of the person being screened. Unlike metal detectors, full-body scanners can detect non-metal objects, which became an increasing concern after various airliner bombing attempts in the 2000s. Transmission X-ray body scanners can also detect swallowed items or hidden in body cavities of a person.  
  Starting in 2007, full-body scanners started supplementing metal detectors at airports and train stations in many countries.
  Three distinct technologies have been used, though the use of Backscatter X-ray has now been discontinued in many countries:
  Millimeter wave scanners use non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation similar to that used by wireless data transmitters, in the Extremely High Frequency (EHF) radio band (which is a lower frequency than visible light). The health risks posed by these machines are still being studied, and the evidence is mixed, though millimeter wave scanners do not generate ionizing radiation. 
  Backscatter X-ray machines use low dose penetrating radiation for detecting suspicious metallic and non-metallic objects hidden under clothing or in shoes and in the cavities of the human body. Considerable debate regarding the safety of this method sparked investigations, ultimately leading multiple countries to ban the usage of them.
  Transmission (Penetrating) X-ray security scanners. In these scanners, X-ray radiation passes through the human body and then is captured by a detector or array of detectors. It is this type of full body scanners that allows you to detect objects hidden not only under clothes, but also inside the human body (for example, drugs carried by drug couriers in the stomach) or in its natural cavities. The dose received is usually not higher than 0.25 μSv and is mainly regulated by the American radiation safety standard for personal search systems using gamma or X-ray radiation ANSI 43.17.2009. Due to the low dose, the resulting image could not have a diagnostic quality for medical purposes but is quite enough to detect items not characteristic for human biology which could be a contraband.
  Passengers and advocates have objected to images of their naked bodies being displayed to screening agents or recorded by the government. Critics have called the imaging virtual strip searches without probable cause, and have suggested they are illegal and violate basic human rights. However, current technology is less intrusive and because of privacy issues most people are allowed to refuse this scan and opt for a traditional pat-down. Transmission X-ray scanners claim to be more privacy neutral as there is almost no way to distinguish a person but they also have a software able to hide privacy issues.
caption: Full body scanner in millimeter wave scanners technique at Cologne Bonn Airport
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