If you were lucky enough to be flying internationally from Australia these holidays, you might have sampled the new body scanners that are supplementing the already considerable array of security measures surrounding our aviation industry. You now are confronted with metal detectors, police, explosives detection, restrictions on liquids and pointy objects, sniffer dogs, posters, and security barriers, among myriad others—as well as the behind the scenes intelligence work going on. The new machines are intended to spot items underneath clothing, providing the operator with an indication of where the item is located.

The use of these machines raises a variety of concerns; effectiveness, safety, and privacy amongst them. But before we begin to consider these concerns we should be asking ourselves, are these machines really necessary? And what are they actually for?

To the Australian Government’s credit, it has reportedly implemented better privacy controls than its American counterpart, including limiting the image provided to a stick figure, rather than the detailed images that have been controversial in the US. Such images have proven so contentious that TSA announced last Friday they would begin phasing out the scanners used to produce them. The government has also assured us all that no information will be stored, though such promises have fallen through in other countries before. Read more