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“Nice Package”

A controversial full-body scan that examines private areas is scheduled to be used increasingly across U.S. airports including O’Hare.
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Privacy has been a modern obsession for Americans since it was determined to be a right implied to exist in the Constitution. Still, it may be the more Puritan side of America that opposes the installation of “full-body scans” at airports that can identify objects hidden beneath clothing. Most concerns about the technology are that the government can see the contours of your naked body. “More than a year after full-body scanners were scheduled to arrive at O’Hare International Airport, the city’s aviation commissioner said the controversial security technology finally is expected to arrive in the next six months. Some politicians and safety experts have said such scanners could have prevented the botched terror plot aboard a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day, though Chicago Department of Aviation Commissioner Rosemarie Andolino said plans to bring the technology to O’Hare were in place before that. The Transportation Security Administration has 150 such machines it will distribute to airports nationwide next year, spokesman Jim Fotenos said, but hasn’t finalized who will get them or when. Andolino also couldn’t say if Midway Airport will be included. Nineteen U.S. airports already are using full-body imaging machines, which show an explicit silhouette of passengers that can identify explosives or other weapons concealed on the body.”

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Amidst concerns over violations of privacy, Homeland Security aims to operate 450 new body scanners at over 29 airports across the country this year.

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