Those who travel regularly will be familiar with the type of x-ray scanning machines used at airports across the world to scan individuals and their baggage before they board flights.
Indeed, those who take the London Underground will have noticed the Metropolitan Police occasionally rolling out these x-ray body scanners to attempt to catch out people carrying knives and other weapons.
This technology - if properly and effectively used - does have a role in guaranteeing passenger safety on aircrafts and other mass transit systems such as the Eurostar. It should not, however, be used as a standard tool of law enforcement.
Big Brother Watch is, therefore, concerned to hear about the development of the 'Z Backscatter Van', a seemingly-innocuous commercial vehicle able to detect "contraband like explosives, drugs or people in hiding". It also has the ability to "see through clothing and into some buildings".
US Representative Jason Chaffetz, a member of the Congressional Privacy Caucus has been quick to raise his objections to the scheme, balancing concerns about privacy with the need to effectively fight crime:
"A van that can drive down the street and look through people's clothes, look into vehicles and even peer into your home? I think that's an invasion of privacy and not what we should be doing.
"There's an appropriate use for these machines - at ports for instance, coming across the border and inspecting vehicles, hostage situations. In a hostage situation you want to be able to peer into the house, I buy that. It was cute when Superman had these powers, but now that it's reality we need to think through how we're going to do this. I don't want a stranger peering through the walls of my home watching my kids
"The company that develops these vans says they've sold more than 500 of these roving vans and I don't know who's purchased them. I think we need to know".
While coverage as to the exact owners of these vehicles has been limited, press releases from the Z Backstreeter's manufacturer list Her Majesty's Customs and Excise as one of their customers. While use of this technology in the UK may for the time being be restricted to border patrols, it may only be a matter of time until it makes its way into your own High Street.
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