Body scanners worden eerst getest door EU

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Als ze niet effectief blijken te zijn, moeten we ze op Schiphol ook weer
weg halen, en mag Schiphol de kosten van aanschaf e.d. niet op de
reizigers verhalen of via rijksbegroting vergoed krijgen.

Groet / Cees

PS. Waarom staat dat niet hier in de krant?

[EPIC NEWS] EPIC Alert 17.02
[4] European Union Rejects U.S. Demands on Body Scanners
=======================================================================

EU President Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba announced on January 21, 2010 that
European countries would not rush to install body scanners as the
United States has urged. He said that studies must be conducted to
determine whether the devices "are effective, do not harm health, and
do not violate privacy." The European position in the current dispute
is strengthened by the recent adoption of the Lisbon Treaty and the
entry into force of the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

The European countries have agreed that they will adopt a unified
position on the body scanner proposal. Spain, which is the current
European Union president and therefore sets the agenda for the EU, is
calling for a unified position in order to avoid inconsistent screening
practices.

Importantly, many senior officials in the European Commission have
indicated opposition to the scanners. The incoming justice commissioner
of the European Commission, Viviane Reding, stated that "Europe's need
for security cannot justify an invasion of privacy. Our citizens are
not objects: they are human beings."

Similarly, Germany will not install the scanners because privacy
concerns have not been addressed. France will only equip certain
airports with scanners.  British Conservative member of parliament, who
used to work for QinetiQ, a scanning technology firm, has stated that
scanners would probably not have detected the explosives reportedly
strapped to Abdulmutallab's leg. "In all the testing that we undertook,
it was unlikely that it would have picked up the current explosive
devices being used by Al Qaeda," Ben Wallace said of the scanners.

Website for EU President Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba
      http://www.eu2010.es/en/index.html

Lisbon Treaty
      http://europa.eu/lisbon_treaty/index_en.htm

Charter of Fundamental Rights
      http://www.europarl.europa.eu/charter/default_en.htm

EPIC: Whole Body Imaging
      http://epic.org/privacy/airtravel/backscatter/

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