Heathrow body scanners 'will not be optional'

27/01/2010

By Jeremy Price.

Passengers will not have the right to refuse a full-body scan at London Heathrow Airport as new technology is introduced, the government has revealed.

The scanners, made by Rapiscan and set to be brought in at Heathrow next week, create an image of a traveller that reveals hidden objects but also makes them appear naked.

According to transport minister Paul Clark, passengers will be selected at random to pass through the scanners and will not have the option of another form of search, such as a manual pat-down.

Individuals who refuse to be scanned will not be permitted to fly, a fact that has been criticised by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

A source from the EHRC told the Sunday Times: "Scanners have a negative impact on people's right to privacy, particularly the disabled, older people and children.

"We are talking about very intimate pictures."

The scanners are being introduced at London Heathrow Airport after a foiled bomb plot on a flight to Detroit by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on Christmas Day 2009.

There are five terminals at the airport, serving some 49 million passengers each year.