Concerns raised over body scanners

17 Jan 2010 - Staff code of conduct required for body scanner operators

Following the Prime Minister's pledge to introduce full body scanners at Britsh airports, The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has raised concerns that the devices risk breaching an individual's right to privacy under the Human Rights Act.

This follows warnings from civil rights groups earlier in the month. Terri Dowty, of civil rights group Action On Rights For Children, told the Guardian that the scanners could breach the Protection of Children Act 1978, under which it is illegal to create an indecent image or a "pseudo-image" of a child.

According to the BBC The Department of Transport has said it is developing a staff code of conduct for airport body scanners. It is not clear whether this will be enough to allay concerns.

NETconsent View

The use of body scanners raises privacy concerns which the new code of conduct will have to address. These include:

• How intimate pictures are viewed and protected
• Where the screening takes place
• The sex of the person doing the scanning
• Training and criminal checks on the operators
• How many other people are able to view the images
• How long the images are kept.

  
  Effectively communicating new policies and procedures so that everyone who needs to read and understand them can prove problematic using traditional approaches to policy managment. In a situation as sensitive as this and where operators also work unsocial shift patterns, organisations should consider automating the policy management process using NETconsent. NETconsent policy management software provides an auditable record of operators having read, understood and importantly sign up to policy adherence.