Airports must be safe – but how do travelers react to the precautions currently in discussion? The use of so-called body scanners at airports remains controversial. Blog readers have voted, showing themselves to be skeptical about the use of these so-called body scanners.

Body scanners record the surface of the human body beneath the clothing and display it on monitors. This should reveal hidden objects that an airport’s conventional metal detectors do not show. At present, body scanners are only being tested in Europe at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, for example.

Most readers of this blog doubt that body scanners are the answer to the security question. This is the result of the most recent AirPlus poll, “Do you think that whole-body scanners increase security or are they an unnecessary imposition on airline travelers?”. 7% of those who responded would accept simply any type of technology for safety’s sake. 60% of those who answered evaluate the search for dangerous persons or objects as more suitable than the use of body scanners. 33% of readers think that body scanners increase safety but that the traveler’s privacy must be guaranteed.

Research on these devices has not been completed. They must be shown to be safe, must not violate the traveler’s human dignity and fundamental rights and must also lead to significant conclusions.

Readers of this blog had the opportunity to vote for circa two months.  A new survey is now being held on the right-hand side under the headline ‘Poll’.

You can find the overview of all polls here:

http://www.airpluscommunity.com/pollarchive/