UK Airport Scanners May Violate Human Rights

The use of full-body scanners at British airports may breach human rights laws, the country's equality commission said on Tuesday, potentially undermining the latest weapon against terrorism.

The new technology has been hurriedly introduced at London's Heathrow airport and Manchester airport in northern England after a botched attempt to bomb a US-bound passenger aircraft from Amsterdam on Christmas Day. Nigerian suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is alleged to have boarded a US aircraft on December 25 with explosives hidden undetected in his underwear.

The full-body scanners, which see through clothes to produce an image of the whole body, might have detected the explosives, experts have said.Rights campaigners have said they fear an invasion of privacy and disproportionate scrutiny of Muslim travellers.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said the scanners might be breaking discrimination and privacy laws, and it had "serious doubts that the decision to roll this (body scanning) out in all UK airports complies with the law."

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