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The shocking reality of what airport security can actually see in X-Ray machine leaves many passengers in disbelief.
Most travellers today have no idea just how invasive airport security scanners used to be. If you've only flown in recent years, you've been spared from one of the most controversial pieces of airport technology ever deployed.
In the early 2010s, the infamous Rapiscan X-ray scanners caused massive backlash due to the level of detail they revealed about passengers' bodies.
The technology was introduced by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in the United States following the 2009 Christmas Day bombing attempt.
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At a staggering cost of $180,000 per machine, 174 of these scanners were installed across 30 airports throughout the US. The TSA justified the expense and intrusiveness as necessary for national security after the failed attack attempt.
Critics quickly dubbed the scanners 'virtual strip searches' and for good reason. The machines produced images that revealed everything from body shape to personal anatomy in shocking detail.
Essentially, security personnel could see the outline and contours of passengers' naked bodies, along with anything they might be hiding under their clothes.
Safe to say, social media has exploded, with shocked travellers sharing their disbelief over the invasive technology.
One commenter at the time wrote, "I'll just drive everywhere, thanks."
Another joked: "This is airport security, not OnlyFans."
The backlash reached a tipping point in 2013 when the TSA was forced to remove the controversial machines due to their inability to meet privacy standards.
In July of 2010, the Electronic Privacy Information Center sued the TSA, saying that the scanners violated privacy laws and that the imagery was equivalent to a 'physically invasive strip search.'
The Rapiscan scanners couldn't integrate Automated Target Recognition (ATR) software that would have created generic, less intrusive outlines of passengers' bodies.
Without the ability to anonymise the images and protect passenger privacy, the scanners had to go.
The Rapiscan machines were replaced with millimetre wave scanners, which are still in use at airports today.
Unlike their predecessors, these newer scanners don't reveal a passenger's unique body image. Instead, they rely on non-intrusive, generic outlines to flag potential threats.
For many travellers who missed this chapter in airport security history, discovering what the old Rapiscan scanners actually showed has come as a genuine shock.
"I thought X-ray meant you could only see bones," one stunned X user commented while another joked: "Guess I'll be tucking my junk text time, just in case."
