Seeing through big brother

If this is introduced, I may stop traveling. I expect others may too. I expect holiday air-travel will abate, and seeing as that's where airline companies make their buck I expect airline tickets will become more costly. And then, I expect air-travel may be relegated to business travel. And perhaps "elite" travellers" who, perhaps, are "waived" the indignation.

Sydney Airport says it is keeping a close eye on overseas trials of a machine that can see through your clothes and show whether you are carrying a bomb or a gun. The drawback is that in answering the question "Is that a gun in your pocket?", it removes the pocket - and the rest of your clothing, too, leaving security staff looking at an image of you naked on a screen.

The technology - millimetre-wave imaging, which detects radiation emitted by the body - is being trialled at airports in Britain and the United States. It is billed as an electronic strip search, but civil liberties groups have raised privacy concerns, as well as fears that images, particularly those of children, could be misused. more