By Calvin Biesecker
As part of its ongoing efforts to improve cooperation with its international partners, the Transportation Security Administration next week will host a meeting in Washington, D.C., on various policy issues associated with whole body imaging systems, which are beginning to be widely deployed at airports in the United States and in other countries, the agency’s chief said this week.
“The summit will cover a wide range of policy questions including deployment strategy, safety, privacy, legal challenges, checkpoint configuration, and more,” Administrator John Pistole said on Tuesday at the AVSEC World 2010 aviation security conference in Germany. TSA will also demonstrate the Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) in a controlled and a live airport environment, he said.
About 30 countries will be in attendance at the invitation only AIT summit. Pistole said the summit will be held “In the spirit of our commitment to engage the international community.”
Pistole’s remarks were made available on TSA’s web site.
In the United States, TSA is deploying AIT systems at airports with plans to have 490 installed by the end of 2010 and 1,000 by the end of next year. The agency is currently procuring systems from L-3 Communications [LLL], which are based on millimeter wave technology, and OSI Systems [OSIS] Rapiscan division, which are based on backscatter X-ray technology.
So far, about 350 of the machines have been deployed to 70 airports in the United States.
TSA had already embarked on deploying the AIT systems in airports last year but accelerated those installations this year following the failed attempt by Umar Farouk Abdulmuttalab last Christmas to detonate a bomb concealed against his body beneath his underwear.
The AIT systems essentially reveal to an operator an outline of a person’s body and anything that may be hidden underneath clothing. Because of the graphic detail the images present, TSA delayed purchasing the systems until the vendors had improved privacy algorithms somewhat although the images are still graphic and remain a point of contention for opponents of using the technology in a public environment.
To try and mollify critics, TSA established a operational construct that it employs at all airports with AIT in use that locates the screener remotely from the actual system and makes sure that the screener cannot see the actual person being scanned. Additional privacy enhancement include the inability to store or print images. A screener is currently needed to review the images for materials that may be hidden on a person’s body.
To better address the privacy concerns, L-3, Rapiscan and others who are hoping to sell their AIT systems to TSA are currently developing automated target recognition (ATR) software that would automatically detect anomalies on a person being scanned by an AIT system and highlight the exact area of concern. This way, the screener wouldn’t have to bother with an image unless an alert goes off.
L-3’s machines are in use at Schipol Airport in Amsterdam and are testing the ATR algorithms.
“This capability would make screening more efficient and would eliminate most privacy concerns about the technology,” Pistole said.
The TSA chief also noted other technology developments that the agency is working on, including improving Advanced Technology X-ray systems used to screen carry-on bags so that they have the ability to detect liquid explosives. TSA currently buys AT X-Ray systems from Britain’s Smiths Detection, Rapiscan and, to a lesser extent, L-3. The agency awarded new contracts to all three companies this year but has been vague about what, if any, automated detection capabilities the latest AT systems have.
Pistole also outlined the attributes of future checkpoint screening technologies. Systems must be “future proof,” he said, so that they “can be upgraded with additional functionality as it is developed.” In addition, systems have to quickly identify threats and all the “screening equipment should be consolidated for better performance and a better screening experience for the public.”
Currently screening systems are essentially stand-alone machines with a single capability, such as X-ray or explosives trace detection, requiring separate operators. TSA, through a contract with General Dynamics [GD], is developing a communications network to link its disparate screening systems.
The Secure Technology Interface Program could eventually be the nucleus for the fusion of various data output by different pieces of screening equipment to enable a traveler to more quickly pass through a checkpoint and for security officers to more easily identify persons who need additional scrutiny.
Pistole indicated that screening solutions need to be flexible.
“The bottom line is that the future must be focused on providing the best possible security for travelers in a way that provides greater scrutiny to those who need greater scrutiny, and not using a cookie cutter approach for everybody,” he said.