New scanners debut at Anchorage airport

At about $150,000 apiece, the Transportation Security Administration hopes the four units installed in Anchorage will keep travelers safe while helping to alleviate privacy concerns still held by many, including a group protesting the agency this month at the airport.

The TSA unveiled the scanners to news media on Friday just before the machines went into use. They'll be operating in Fairbanks this weekend and likely in Juneau and Ketchikan in January, the TSA says. About 540 of the machines have been installed at 100 airports nationwide.

Unlike previous scanners that drew harsh criticism from privacy advocates, the so-called Advanced Imaging Technology machines do not produce an actual image of the traveler being scanned. Instead, the scanner's software displays a generic, gray human form and indicates any concealed metallic or nonmetallic objects that might be under the traveler's clothes.

Here's how it works: Just like before, a traveler passing through a security checkpoint is asked to remove their shoes and any items from their pockets, and their belongings are sent through an X-ray machine. The person then steps into the scanner's see-through enclosure, raises their arms and two sensors rotate around their body, emitting electromagnetic waves. A display screen at the exit, viewable by both the passenger and a TSA agent, flashes green and "OK" if the person has nothing concealed on their body. But if the scanner detects something -- a wallet, phone, or, perhaps, a hidden explosive -- a small yellow square appears on the image of the body indicating the location of the object.

The agent will ask the traveler to remove the item. If the agent still believes something is concealed, the traveler either receives a targeted pat down or, at the traveler's request, a search in private, said TSA spokeswoman Lorie Dankers.

"We're only looking for something on the outside of the body, where there's an anomaly, and then we follow up with the human element, essentially," Dankers said. "It'd be hard to describe this as controversial."

Travelers will receive a full-body pat down if they opt out of the scan, Dankers said. With a less invasive scanner that can still detect any hidden objects, the new process should decrease the number of pat downs, she said.

The American Civil Liberties Union has called the scanners an improvement over the previous machines, but privacy concerns about pat-downs remain. And those concerns are especially worrisome for people with medical devices they can't do anything about, the ACLU says. Others worry about the possibility of harmful radiation from the machines.

The electromagnetic waves are harmless and meet all known national and international standards, the TSA says.

"If you think of some of the other things that emit a signal, like a cell phone, it's significantly less than that," Dankers said.

The new scanners are still being phased in as agents' classroom and on-the-job training continues, said Jesse Sanchez, the airport's security director. Eventually, three scanners at the south security checkpoint and one at the north checkpoint, which sees most of the airport's international travelers, will be operating full time, Sanchez said.

Previous full-body scanners that showed an image of a traveler through their clothes will remain in use at other airports for the time being, and Alaskans may experience those types of scanners while traveling in the Lower 48, Dankers said.

The TSA hopes to continue to educate the public about the agency's claims that the new scanners keep airports secure while protecting passengers' privacy, she said.

Still, some at the airport Friday were not convinced.

"I think the whole idea is an invasion of privacy. They give you the option to opt out, but then they pat you down," said Mike Bensussen, who was heading to the North Slope. "I object to the whole process, pretty much. I don't think they need to go to that extent."

A group opposing TSA practices in general, but also full-body scans, had a booth set up on the airport's first floor. Diane Schenker, co-director of Alaskans' Freedom to Travel USA, and two others handed out gingerbread cookies with an anti-TSA symbol painted in frosting. The booth had inflated blue gloves like those used by agents during pat downs.

Schenker said she was upset due to a lack of public input on the new machines before they went into use. She also said she disagreed that the new machines would decrease the number of pat downs and had heard that the scanners often incorrectly identified concealed objects that were not really there.

"How is that not going to lead to more pat downs?" Schenker said. "We object to the level of authority they've been given to touch people."

Anchorage Rep. Sharon Cissna -- a breast cancer survivor who wears a prosthesis -- vowed Friday to continue her boycott of air travel in the United States. Cissna refused a pat down in Seattle this spring after a scanner detected the prosthesis and drove much of the way back to Alaska.

"That's always going to show up for me. That means I'm always going to be a target for invasive search," Cissna said.

"Why are we constantly picking on the same people over and over again, when we're supposed to be looking for terrorists?" she said. "Why does the United States need to molest people for safety?"

Cissna said she would be driving and taking a ferry to Juneau for the upcoming legislative session.

Reach Casey Grove at casey.grove@adn.com or 257-4589.