Dutch push for 'see-through' scanners on all flights

The Netherlands hopes to conduct safety checks using special ‘see-through’ security scanners on air passengers bound for any destinations. Currently, these scanners are only used on flights bound for the US.

Justice minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin announced the move to his European colleagues speaking at a meeting in the Spanish town of Toledo on Thursday. The Netherlands is seeking the support of other EU-countries, before implementing the scanners that can see through clothing to detect explosives and other contraband.

EU-countries are currently at liberty to deploy the scanners as they see fit, but Hirsch Ballin pushed for European regulations on the matter, saying they would do much to improve the efficiency of security checks and provide clarity for passengers. The European commission hopes to propose regulations governing their usage to EU-countries this spring.

According to Hirsch Ballin, the security scanners should become mandatory on all European airports. Not all of his colleagues are fully convinced they should be. They want to await the results of a study into the scanners health and privacy concerns. According to Hirsch Ballin, his colleagues were “mostly interested” in Dutch experiences with the technology

Germany, which initially had its reservations, is said to start experimenting with the scanners soon. As soon as a European agreement has been reached, the Netherlands intends to start a phased introduction of the scanners on all flights emanating from the Netherlands. First all flights bound for the US will be effected (requiring 75 scanners in all), the scanners will then be deployed on all intercontinental flights, and finally all intra-European flights.

Hirsch Ballin was unable to determine the number of scanners this would require.

Air traffic security is at the top of the international agenda since a Nigerian man tried to blow up an airplane travelling from Amsterdam to Detroit last Christmas. This, in part, explained the presence of the American secretary of homeland security, Janet Napolitano, at the meeting.

Software will protect privacy

According to Napolitano, it was obvious terrorists were plotting new strikes on aircraft. She called the scanners”useful” in combating terror attacks, but said the exchange of passenger data was just as important.

According to Hirsch Ballin, a test has shown that the would-be bomber would have “very probably” been caught if he had been scanned using the new equipment. Like Napolitano, he said that new computer programmes would be able to protect passengers’ privacy. Improved software would allow for a “schematic” display of the naked human body. Research by a Dutch government agency is said to have shown no ill effects on health.

The US currently has 40 security scanners in use at their airports. Napolitano said it hopes to extend that number to 450 this year.