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In German Trials, Airport Body Scanners Easily Confused

Posted by timothy on from the bitte-to-be-straightening-dein-pleats-maedchen dept.

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."

12 of 91 comments (clear)

  1. Ballmer by Alex+Belits · · Score: 5, Funny

    sweaty armpits

    Now you will never be able to deport Ballmer. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

    --
    Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
  2. Raise the stakes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The only thing to do when faced with one of these is to strip naked on the spot. Fuck 'em.

    1. Re:Raise the stakes by webmistressrachel · · Score: 2

      LOL some good points in there.

      1) Fair enough. I start my browser and go to "slashdot.org/login.pl" directly, then click submit.

      2) The bait is in my posting history, I'm real, I'm verifiable, I'm female AND there's pics. Some peeps here have already found that out; I was kinda trolling them for compliments etc... sorry...

      3) Wow. Never thought of it like that. Does this apply to all women now? Even if they "ask for it" like I did? Poor men. That can't be good for our collective mental health, and that is the only really serious thing I've posted today. I'm sorry.

      Thanks for the reply, anyhow.

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  3. MIssion Accomplished by am+2k · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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!

    1. Re:MIssion Accomplished by Haedrian · · Score: 2

      I think I should start a company which sells metal doorways with the words "Scanner" written on them. They won't do anything, but I'll make a packet.

  4. Re:What technology is used by TSA? by maxwell+demon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

    --
    The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
  5. Sweaty armpits? Seriously? by jcr · · Score: 2, Funny

    Brings a whole new meaning to the term "sweating bullets", I guess.

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
  6. Re:What technology is used by TSA? by Stormthirst · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Given that the Americans are insisting that these scanners are used globally[1], at least the Germans are concerned with the health and privacy of their citizens.

    [1] and you thought the TSA situation stinks - now Washington is bullying the EU into using them too. Citation? RTFA

  7. Re:are these the same scanner in use in the usa? by FatLittleMonkey · · Score: 3, Informative

    The Euro/Aus scanners don't show the direct image. It is processed to separate the "normal" (clothes and body) from "abnormal" (weapons), and then displays the "abnormal" against a generic silhouette. The idea is that the scanners will be easier to introduce into countries with stronger privacy laws/culture than the US. However, it seems to be fooled by variations in bodies and clothing.

    TSA systems have human operators interpret the images directly. They quickly get used to ghosting and artifacts and stop issuing false positives. However, tests (official and otherwise) show that they also fail to detect actual weapons.

    --
    Science is all about firing a drunk pig out of a cannon just to see what happens.
  8. Re:What does "seven out of ten" mean here? by NixieBunny · · Score: 5, Insightful

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

    --
    The determined Real Programmer can write Fortran programs in any language.
  9. Re:What does "seven out of ten" mean here? by ColdWetDog · · Score: 2

    According to what i read in the local newspapers here in Germany, the systems raised an alarm at 7 out of 10 people passing through them.

    Sounds about right. They're probably American machines. Most of the people in a German airport would be Germans. Thus foreigners to the machine's inbuilt intelligence and worthy of a beep or two.

    GO USA!

    --
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  10. Re:What does "seven out of ten" mean here? by sgt+scrub · · Score: 2

    Oh please. Everybody knows nothing is manufactured in the U.S.

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