4 ms·
If everyone opted out of the scanners, they would quickly disappear.
by appleflaxen 6y ago
If everyone opted out of the scanners, they would quickly disappear.
- vinay427 6y agoThese scanners did disappear. They aren't the current millimeter wave scanners.
- natch 6y agoIn every airport of every country? When we sold our last ICE car to go electric, we learned that a lot of used ICE car inventory is being shipped to Mexico and other countries where they are still ok dealing with the smell (or just not in a financial position to move forward as fast). I imagine the same kind of dynamic happens with equipment like this.
- bonzini 6y agoI'm not sure if they were ever in use outside the US.
- tjohns 6y agoI have seen a few at airports outside the US after we switched to millimeter wave. So yes, they are used in other countries. (And unlike the US, opting out sometimes isn’t an option.)
- fwip 6y agoI think something like 4-5% of car sales in the US are electric-only or hybrid, the remaining 95% being old-fashioned ICE. It's not just Mexico still buying them.
- natch 6y agoYeah. It’s still early days.
- maximente 6y agothere's no value add - other countries aren't really concerned with security theatre to the extent that the US (maybe UK?) is. witness the difference between screening at e.g. international airports outside of US/UK and then additional necessary screening for US bound flights. perhaps, though, that makes it a great export opportunity there, similar to arms exports: US law will mandate that these scanners are minimally required for inbound flights, other airports pick them up in order not to lose US flight slots.
- Sharlin 6y agoIt's not like ICE cars (both new and used) aren't still being sold in tremendous amounts in the US…
- natch 6y agoUsed ICE car prices are crashing though.
- vinay427 6y agoI definitely only meant it for the TSA, and I'm glad you pointed this out. However, I suspect that in these countries that have the financial constraints you describe, opting out may not always lead to decommissioning them because installing alternatives requires significant expenditure (which is why the US could afford to get rid of them in the first place). I don't think this is universally true (i.e. I expect some countries ended up with old backscatter scanners but would choose to replace them if many people opt out) but I don't know that this intersection is very large.
- brianwawok 6y agoYup. I have opted out every time. Maybe 50 times since they came out? Just my 3 seconds of civil disobedience.
- rantwasp 6y agocounter point: it everyone opted out they would become mandatory
- gpm 6y agoUnlikely, politicians don't like pissing off everyone.
- ultrarunner 6y agoNo, they appoint others to handle that for them. In this case, the TSA.
- kennywinker 6y agothat's debatable, but my feeling is it's headed towards mandatory anyway so at least if everyone started opting out we have a chance we can force them to get rid of it.
- brianwawok 6y agoIf enough opted out they would need to find another form of security theatre.
- Someone1234 6y agoI opted out of backscatter back in the day (and looking at the facts retrospectively I feel validated in doing so, for example the miscalibrated units found to be spitting out 20x more radiation than designed). I don't opt out of Millimeter Wave today, as I'm yet to see convincing scientific arguments or evidence that they're unsafe, or what the mechanism would be outside of mild tissue heating. I do choose to close my eyes when scanned though, take that as you will.
- cosmotic 6y agoHave you seen any convincing scientific evidence that they are effective? I mean... Do they stop terrorism? They may not give you cancer but those machines aren't free.
- Someone1234 6y agoBeyond the scope of opt-outs. This is more a political question masquerading as a scientific inquiry.