The U.S. Marshals Service has admitted to storing body scans of Orlando citizens visiting the federal courthouse.
ZoomAre federal agencies storing images of those scanned by millimeter wave systems or X-ray backscatter devices? Apparently that may be the case even though said federal agencies have insisted that images resulting in body scans are discarded as soon as they are viewed. One agency--the U.S. Marshals Service--has stepped forward, admitting to hording tens of thousands of images recorded at a security checkpoint in a Florida courthouse.
Body scanning devices have been a sore spot for privacy advocates for some time, especially where children are concerned. Typically millimeter wave systems capture fuzzy images but still get the job done, illustrating possible concealed weapons. An X-ray backscatter machine is a bit more thorough, penetrating layers of clothing to render anatomical details best left private.
The privacy debate regarding the use of body scanners was set ablaze two weeks ago when Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that the Transportation Security Administration's body scanning program would soon incorporate nearly every airport across the nation. This provoked a lawsuit by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), requesting that a federal judge grant an immediate halt on the TSA's scanner rollout.
Tuesday afternoon EPIC received a statement from the Marshals Service relating to a separate lawsuit. The document, written by William Bordley, an associate general counsel with the Marshals Service, admitted that "approximately 35,314 images...have been stored on the Brijot Gen2 machine" located in the Orlando, Florida federal courthouse. Again, these images were supposedly "discarded."
"TSA is not being straightforward with the public about the capabilities of these devices," EPIC executive director Marc Rotenberg told CNET. "This is the Department of Homeland Security subjecting every U.S. traveler to an intrusive search that can be recorded without any suspicion--I think it's outrageous."
EPIC's lawsuit argues that the body scanners violate the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits "unreasonable" searches. The TSA disagrees, saying that use the machines is perfectly constitutional. Guess we'll see what the judge thinks when both cases are presented.
ZoomAre federal agencies storing images of those scanned by millimeter wave systems or X-ray backscatter devices? Apparently that may be the case even though said federal agencies have insisted that images resulting in body scans are discarded as soon as they are viewed. One agency--the U.S. Marshals Service--has stepped forward, admitting to hording tens of thousands of images recorded at a security checkpoint in a Florida courthouse.
Body scanning devices have been a sore spot for privacy advocates for some time, especially where children are concerned. Typically millimeter wave systems capture fuzzy images but still get the job done, illustrating possible concealed weapons. An X-ray backscatter machine is a bit more thorough, penetrating layers of clothing to render anatomical details best left private.
The privacy debate regarding the use of body scanners was set ablaze two weeks ago when Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that the Transportation Security Administration's body scanning program would soon incorporate nearly every airport across the nation. This provoked a lawsuit by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), requesting that a federal judge grant an immediate halt on the TSA's scanner rollout.
Tuesday afternoon EPIC received a statement from the Marshals Service relating to a separate lawsuit. The document, written by William Bordley, an associate general counsel with the Marshals Service, admitted that "approximately 35,314 images...have been stored on the Brijot Gen2 machine" located in the Orlando, Florida federal courthouse. Again, these images were supposedly "discarded."
"TSA is not being straightforward with the public about the capabilities of these devices," EPIC executive director Marc Rotenberg told CNET. "This is the Department of Homeland Security subjecting every U.S. traveler to an intrusive search that can be recorded without any suspicion--I think it's outrageous."
EPIC's lawsuit argues that the body scanners violate the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits "unreasonable" searches. The TSA disagrees, saying that use the machines is perfectly constitutional. Guess we'll see what the judge thinks when both cases are presented.
... please make yourself at home ... 