CALGARY- A controversial body scanner is now up and running at Calgary International Airport.
The machine resembles a glass telephone booth and is only for U.S.-bound passengers selected for a secondary screening.
Travellers have the right to refuse the scan but must instead submit to a physical search, said Mathieu Larocque, a spokesman for the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority.
The process takes about five seconds.
In total, Transport Minister John Baird has promised 44 scanners at “Class 1″ airports across the country. The devices have already been installed in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.
So-called “naked-body” scanners have sparked fierce debate among privacy watchdogs, but the office of the federal privacy commissioner concluded the technology is not invasive because images are viewed by an officer in a separate room from the passenger.
A number of polls conducted on the issue suggest Canadians support the use of full-body scanners in addition to conventional metal detectors.
Airports around the world are grappling with secondary screening procedures following a failed Christmas Day bombing attempt aboard a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.
-tgignac@theherald.canwest.com
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