FEDS ENHANCE PASSENGER PRIVACY AT AIRPORTS

The federal government is deploying software on Canada’s full body scanners (FBS) that will enhance passenger privacy at airports, while continuing to ensure the safety and security of Canadian air travellers. The Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) software for full body scanners is being updated at major Canadian airports. This new software produces computer generated “stick figures”rather than an outline of the passenger’s body, enhancing privacy for air travellers, and is just as secure as the software it replaces. “Our government is committed to ensuring the safety and security of all passengers travelling through Canadian airports,”said Steven Fletcher, Minister of State (Transport). “This new software will ensure the continued safety and security of Canadians passengers, while respecting their privacy. This is great news for Canadian air travellers.”To continue to ensure that every passenger’s privacy is fully respected, the scanner does not collect personal information from the passenger it screens nor is the image correlated in any way with the name of the passenger or any other identifying information. The ATR technology is in line with international standards for security screening. Other countries, including the United States and the Netherlands, are also using this technology. Full body scanners at Canadian airports do not pose a risk to human health and safety. Health Canada has assessed the technical information on these devices and concluded that the radio frequency energy emitted by the device is well within Canada’s guidelines for safe human exposure.