Congress Orders TSA To Stop Graphic Body Scans By Next Month: New Software Regains Privacy For Flyers

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has been ordered to discontinue using body scanners which produce naked scan images by June.

According to the Associated Press, Congress ordered Rapiscan, the maker of the X-ray, or backscatter, scanner to produce a more generic image or be removed next month.

On Thursday, the scanner company acknowledged they would not be able to meet such a deadline, and TSA promptly ended their contract the next day.

Earlier, TSA Administrator John Pistole wrote to the House Homeland Security Committee that all airport body scanners have been retrofitted with the Automatic Target Recognition (ATR), which only shows generic images of passengers' bodies.

This will replace the more intrusive Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) developed by Rapiscan.

"As of May 16, 2013, all [AIT scanners] are equipped with ATR capability," Pistole wrote according to NPR.

"Additionally, TSA's procurement of next generation AIT requires ATR capability."

A colored box now pops up if the full-body scanner detects a potentially forbidden item, allowing the generic image to stay.

According to Newsmax, the massive overhaul will remove all 174 backscatter scanners from the 30 airports that employ the device. Some of the machines will also be replaced with metal detectors.

Rapiscan parent company OSI Systems Inc. will seek out new homes for their scanners, with OSI's chief financial officer Alan Edrick remaining hopeful about facilities such as prisons or military bases.

"There's quite a few agencies which will have a great deal of interest," he said.

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