4 ms·

I don't understand the outrage over full body scans. A doctor or nurse often conducts routine private examinations for the benefit of your health and well being

by jsz0 17y ago

I don't understand the outrage over full body scans. A doctor or nurse often conducts routine private examinations for the benefit of your health and well being. An airport screener does a fully body scan for the benefit of your health and well being -- and the well being of others. I don't really see any difference. Most of the time the doctor or nurse do their examination and there's no problem. We don't view this as being too invasive because we understand it's a wise precaution to get regular checkups -- just in case.

Timothee 17y ago
I feel like at least the following might bother people: 1. Doctors and nurses are educated. I will leave it at that for TSA agents. 2. A doctor's office is much more private than an airport (even though you are not really naked in the airport, you're not really sure of who is seeing the scan) 3. At the doctor's office, your main goal is to have your health checked. At the airport, your main goal is to travel.
- nfnaaron 17y ago
  "... you're not really sure of who is seeing the scan." Sure you are. Everyone. This is data, like any other, and when you give your data to anyone, you can assume it's going to be seen by someone who shouldn't see it. Actually, I predict a new genre of porn to emerge from this.
antidaily 17y ago
A doctor's exam is usually at least somewhat effective or necessary. There's not a lot of evidence that says this will do anything to keep us safer.
travisp 17y ago
There are some differences -- we generally choose the doctor and doctor's office we go to, and can relatively easily say no if we find we are uncomfortable with the particular person. Doctors and nurses are fairly highly trained and have a lot more to lose if they violate professional ethics. On the other hand TSA-trained people have often been involved in drug smuggling, luggage stealing, and more.
jacquesm 17y ago
I think the outrage is mostly because of the fact that we have a reasonable expectation of privacy in our lives and because we think our nudity is part of our privacy. A nudist wouldn't care one way or the other, a 15 year old girl or boy might be very upset about some random guy looking at their privates, as would old ladies. You can't make exemptions on those grounds so that is a bit of a problem. Think of this as a virtual strip search, if everybody would be strip searched on flying I assure you there would be a lot less people traveling by air. At some point the nuisance starts to outweigh the benefits, for some people that has already happened. Personally I'll take my chances with the terrorists, I avoid high risk destinations and high risk carriers. If the 'terrorists' start blowing up Air France planes from Paris to Greece I'll re-evaluate that position.
gaius 17y ago
A doctor is a professional bound by a code of ethics, with whom you might have a decades long relationship of trust. A TSA screener is a random dude who was flipping burgers last week. That's the difference.

by jsz0 17y ago

Timothee 17y ago

I feel like at least the following might bother people: 1. Doctors and nurses are educated. I will leave it at that for TSA agents. 2. A doctor's office is much more private than an airport (even though you are not really naked in the airport, you're not really sure of who is seeing the scan) 3. At the doctor's office, your main goal is to have your health checked. At the airport, your main goal is to travel.

nfnaaron 17y ago
"... you're not really sure of who is seeing the scan." Sure you are. Everyone. This is data, like any other, and when you give your data to anyone, you can assume it's going to be seen by someone who shouldn't see it. Actually, I predict a new genre of porn to emerge from this.

antidaily 17y ago

A doctor's exam is usually at least somewhat effective or necessary. There's not a lot of evidence that says this will do anything to keep us safer.

travisp 17y ago

There are some differences -- we generally choose the doctor and doctor's office we go to, and can relatively easily say no if we find we are uncomfortable with the particular person. Doctors and nurses are fairly highly trained and have a lot more to lose if they violate professional ethics. On the other hand TSA-trained people have often been involved in drug smuggling, luggage stealing, and more.

jacquesm 17y ago

I think the outrage is mostly because of the fact that we have a reasonable expectation of privacy in our lives and because we think our nudity is part of our privacy. A nudist wouldn't care one way or the other, a 15 year old girl or boy might be very upset about some random guy looking at their privates, as would old ladies. You can't make exemptions on those grounds so that is a bit of a problem. Think of this as a virtual strip search, if everybody would be strip searched on flying I assure you there would be a lot less people traveling by air. At some point the nuisance starts to outweigh the benefits, for some people that has already happened. Personally I'll take my chances with the terrorists, I avoid high risk destinations and high risk carriers. If the 'terrorists' start blowing up Air France planes from Paris to Greece I'll re-evaluate that position.

gaius 17y ago

A doctor is a professional bound by a code of ethics, with whom you might have a decades long relationship of trust. A TSA screener is a random dude who was flipping burgers last week. That's the difference.