Privacy
Advanced Imaging Technology
Privacy | Frequently Asked Questions | More Information
Any potential threat items that are detected are indicated on a generic outline of a person. |
If no potential threat items are detected, an "OK" appears on the monitor with no outline. |
Strict privacy safeguards are built into the foundation of TSA's use of advanced imaging technology to protect passenger privacy and ensure anonymity, and TSA always looks for new technology that meets our security standards while enhancing existing privacy protections.
TSA recently installed new software on all millimeter wave imaging technology machines – upgrades designed to enhance privacy by eliminating passenger-specific images and instead auto-detecting potential threats and indicating their location on a generic outline of a person. Areas identified as containing potential threats will require additional screening. The generic is identical for all passengers. If no potential threat items are detected, an "OK" appears on the monitor and the passenger is cleared.
By eliminating the image of an actual passenger and replacing it with a generic outline of a person, passengers are able to view the same outline that the TSA officer sees. Further, a separate TSA officer is no longer required to view the image in a remotely located viewing room. By removing this step of the process, screening is more efficient and throughput capability of the technology is improved.
For units that do not yet have the new software, TSA has taken all efforts to ensure passenger privacy. To that end, the officer who assists the passenger never sees the image the technology produces and the officer who views the image is remotely located in a secure resolution room and never sees the passenger. The two officers communicate via wireless headset.
Advanced imaging technology cannot store, print, transmit or save the image, and the image is automatically deleted from the system after it is cleared by the remotely located security officer. Officers evaluating images are not permitted to take cameras, cell phones or photo-enabled devices into the resolution room. To further protect passenger privacy, backscatter technology has a privacy filters that blur images. Click here to view the images that the remotely located security officer sees.
Click here to read the Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) for Imaging Technology (pdf, 260Kb)
Advanced imaging technology screening is optional for all passengers. Passengers who opt out of AIT screening will receive alternative screening, including a physical pat-down.
