In German Trials, Airport Body Scanners Easily Confused

OverTheGeicoE writes "The German government just finished a 10-month test of millimeter-wave body scanners made by L3 Communications. It appears they are not happy with the results. The devices raise false alarms 7 times out of 10, and are confused by layered clothing, boots, zippers, pleats, and even incorrect posture. Australia recently started a trial, and the second person in at the Sydney airport set off the alarm repeatedly due to sweaty armpits."

Comments

MIssion Accomplished

[am 2k]

As far as I understand, the primary (and probably only) purpose of those scanners is to make their manufacturers a buttload of money. I think they're doing that perfectly fine, so it's definitely a success!

Re:What technology is used by TSA?

[maxwell demon]

I guess the TSA uses scanners which show the actual scan. In Germany, the scanner's software identifies potential objects and marks them on a schematic picture, so you're not seen naked on the screen. Humans are better at interpreting patterns, and more importantly they learn. After the first few times they've seen sweaty armpits on the scan, they'll probably recognize them. If the software misinterprets sweaty armpits as hidden objects the first time, it will do so for every person until eventually the software gets an explicit update to not misidentify sweaty armpits.

Re:What does "seven out of ten" mean here?

[NixieBunny]

I think the rate of actual terrorists is .000000001%, so essentially all positives are false positives.