Like X-ray specs — except the technology actually works

“With backscatter, when you scan, you’d see a silhouette of the body. You could see  whatever was on the outside of the body, on the surface of the body or anything sewn into the lining of your coat. It would show up as kind of a gray mass.”

In an interview for the Detroit Free Press, airline security expert Douglas Laird dismisses privacy concerns. “I believe we have to give up some rights for the safety of everybody,” he said. At the same time, however, he realizes that not everyone sees things the same way. “It’s a real nerve that you touch when you mention that.”