Click in the Eyewitness News story window above to watch Amy Powell's report from LAX.
Passengers are certainly used to getting screened for security reasons, but the idea of the kind of intimate exposure that comes with this new scanner is just too much for some.
It's a body scanning machine that virtually allows security officials to look underneath the clothing of passengers. The millimeter wave, full-body imaging system produces a 3-dimensional black-and-white image that reveals detailed outlines of every body part.
TSA screeners will view the images from a remote, enclosed area. Transportation Security officials at LAX say the scanner will give screeners another means of searching for weapons and explosives.
Even though the faces of passengers are blurred and the images are immediately deleted, advocates for passenger rights say the body scan could be too revealing and even degrading to travelers. The scanners are drawing some strong reaction.
"This is the United States, and it doesn't feel like freedom to me, so. It's an invasion of privacy. You know, there's no trust anymore," said Keith Dolnick, airline passenger.
"A little bit uncertain, I mean, it is a little bit uneasy feeling to think that they're going to be seeing everything. There should be a better way to do it, but I don't know if it's anymore invasive than getting patted down or anything else really, so yeah. So whatever you need to do to keep us safe," said
LAX will unveil the new body scanning machine at Terminal 5 Thursday afternoon.
