You
may remember us blogging about new privacy software we rolled out for the L3 Millimeter
Wave body scanners. It’s called Automated Target Recognition (ATR), and with
the use of this software, our officers no longer see an image of the person
being screened. This is what our officers see if the passenger alarms:
ATR Monitor After Alarm |
You
can read more about the ATR software here.
Congress
mandated as a part of the The FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 that all TSA body scanners should
be equipped with ATR by June 1, 2012 (There has since been an extension to June
1, 2013).
At
this point, all Millimeter wave units have been equipped with ATR, but even
with the extension to 2013, Rapiscan was unable to fulfill their end of the
contract and create the ATR software that would work with backscatter units. As
a result, TSA terminated the contract with Rapiscan in order to comply with the
congressional mandate.
All
Rapiscan AIT units currently operational at checkpoints around the country, as
well as those stored at the TSA Logistics Center, will be removed by Rapiscan
at their expense and stored until they can be redeployed to other mission
priorities within the government. Most of the backscatter units being removed
will be replaced with millimeter wave units. The millimeter units will be moved
from the inventory currently deployed at other airports and from an upcoming
purchase of additional millimeter wave units.
By
June 1, 2013 travelers will only see machines which have ATR that allow for
faster throughput. This means faster lanes for the traveler and enhanced
security.
As always, use of this technology is
optional.