All backscatter “pornoscanners” to be removed from US airports

Bloomberg is reporting that the TSA will be removing all of the remaining backscatter X-ray machines from US airports. The removal doesn't come because of health concerns—instead the machines' manufacturer, Rapiscan Systems, failed to meet a US Congress-imposed deadline for altering the machines software to produce "generic passenger images," according to the report.

TSA assistant administer for acquisitions Karen Shelton Waters, speaking on behalf of the agency, noted that Rapiscan Systems would absorb the cost for the scanners' removal, and that the removal is unrelated to Rapiscan's alleged falsification of the machines' abilities to protect passengers' privacy. nor does the removal appear to be related to ongoing questions about the safety of the backscatter X-ray technology.

The CEO of OSI systems, Rapiscan's parent company, says that, rather than pitch the expensive machines into the garbage bin the TSA will be relocating them to other government agencies. In total, there are 174 Rapiscan backscatter X-ray machines that will be pulled from airports and relocated, on top of 76 that were removed last year.