Will any Australian Airport introduce the "virtual strip" full body scanner?

BTW: The high-tech machines are already in use at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, which introduced them in May 2007 following a year-long trial at crew security checkpoints.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUKTRE4961CO20081007
http://www.infrastructure.gov.au

I was just going to ask whether these were the same as the ones at Schipol - I had the lovely experience of going through one, you have to stand in this cubicle with your arms up in the air and you feel like a right dork going through ...

Maybe if they file you into two collums, one for males, one for females, then that would be less intrusive. And if your a transvestite..... stay off the plane.

And if you're a transvestite...you put half through each line! LOL.

The war on sanity continues.

http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/transport/security/aviation/techtrial/index.aspx
it is evidently used in some places in the USA ,Canada and Europe

@curios: duh! (see comment #1, #2)

"EU lawmakers have joined U.S. civil liberty campaigners in criticizing a new scanner technology that allows airport security staff to see through passengers' clothes, calling it a virtual strip search that should only be used as a last resort. (...) The new system, which the European Union plans to authorize at the bloc's airports, allows guards to see an outline of passengers' bodies beneath their clothes, making it easier to detect any concealed objects.
It already is being introduced in several U.S. airports and has been tested in other countries around the world, including EU nations such as Britain and the Netherlands. However, EU officials said it could face a ban if the 27-nation bloc does not include it in a new regulation listing acceptable airport security equipment.
(...) the technology should not be used routinely on passengers, but could be introduced when suspicions are raised."

http://www.pr-inside.com/eu-lawmakers-criticize-virtual-strip-r873008.htm

I think that if they file you into two columns like i suggested earlier they would be met with a lot less criticism.

@kruijs duh

MUSLIMS DECRY NEW SCREENING PROCEDURES
http://thelastcrusade.org/2010/01/05/muslims-decry-new-screening-procedures/
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is now decrying the enhanced screening procedures for U.S.-bound air passengers traveling through “state sponsors of terrorism or other countries of interest” such as Pakistan, Yemen and Nigeria.

Such screening, CAIR officials maintain, amount to religious profiling of Muslims as a problematic element.
“Under these new guidelines, almost every American Muslim who travels to see family or friends or goes on pilgrimage to Mecca will automatically be singled out for special security checks — that’s profiling,” says Nihad Awad, CAIR’s Executive Director. “While singling out travelers based on religion and national origin may make some people feel safer, it only serves to alienate and stigmatize Muslims and does nothing to improve airline security.”

...
A TSA spokesperson, Kristin Lee, responded that “TSA does not profile. As is always the case, TSA security measures are based on threat, not ethnic or religious background.”

The new measures were adopted in the wake of a botched bombing attempt on Christmas Day by a Nigerian Muslim who boarded a U.S.-bound flight in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
[More at the link...]