U.K. Bans Passengers Who Refuse Full Body Scans from Flying

As international debate swirls around the use of full body scanners for airline security, the United Kingdom announced that it would bar any travelers who refused to submit to the scans from getting on airplanes, the Daily Mail reports. The government also overturned a planned exemption for children under 18. The scanners went into use today at airports in London and Manchester, and Birmingham will soon follow.

The implementation of full body scanners in the U.K.is a response to the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner last Christmas Day. The scans, controversial because of how much of the human body they reveal to security screeners, have been widely promoted as a more thorough way to stop terrorists from hiding explosive materials.

Though U.K. passengers cannot opt out of the scan, they can insist that their images only be viewed by a screener of their sex. Screeners viewing the scans are required to be in a separate room, and no airport personal operating the scanners will see the black-and-white digital images of passenger's bodies.

While the scanners are opposed by some civil liberties groups, anecdotal data shows that most passengers have no objection to them if they believe the scanners will increase their safety. During a test run at the Manchester airport after the Christmas bombing, 92 percent of passengers volunteered to go through the full-body scanner. The Detroit bombing increased passengers' willingness to participate, but the number of volunteers was already high at 76 percent of all passengers.