Germany to test full body scanners this summer at the earliest

Sun, 10 Jan 2010

Berlin - Controversial full body scanners, which can detect contours and items through a passenger's clothing, are to be tested at German airports from this summer at the earliest, a government official said on Sunday. "We are testing the new technology thoroughly and not rashly," Secretary of State for the Interior Klaus-Dieter Fritsche told the German Press Agency dpa.

Transport Minister Peter Ramsauer was critical about introducing the scanners, which have become the subject of debate after a Nigerian attempted to blow up a plane over the US city of Detroit on Christmas Day.

The path to full body scanners was "long and uncertain," Ramsauer told dpa.

"We plan to introduce tests with the scanners from the middle of the year at the earliest," Fritsche said. He did not give a specific date for the airport trials.

The devices are currently being tested in laboratories, where the key criteria are how much additional security they provide, how safe they are and the degree to which the scanners infringe personal rights, Fritsche added.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/302968,germany-to-test-full-body-scanners-this-summer-at-the-earliest.html.