air travel privacy Airport security backscatter body scanners policy privacy Whole Body Imaging
EPIC Urges Congress to Suspend Funding for Body Scanner Program
In a letter to Representatives Mike Rogers and Shelia Jackson-Lee, EPIC has asked Congress to suspend funding for the airport body scanner program until the TSA has completed a court-ordered public rulemaking. The letter follows a House oversight hearing where members of Congress learned that the TSA had shipped millions of dollars worth of backscatter X-ray devices to warehouses. Earlier the TSA stated that it was moving the devices to smaller airports for efficiency reasons. Backscatter X-ray devices are currently prohibited in Europe. For more information, see EPIC: EPIC v. DHS (Suspension of Body Scanner Program), EPIC: Whole Body Imaging Technology and Body Scanners ("Backscatter" X-Ray and Millimeter Wave Screening) and EPIC: EPIC: Body Scanner FAQ.