Remember those full-body scanners that created concern among privacy advocates and members of Congress? Well, those machines were pulled from airports last year following intense criticism, leading to sighs of relief among critics who felt they were too intrusive.
But those machines, which each cost between $130,000 and $170,000, are now apparently being put to good use inside jails, prisons and government buildings, the Los Angeles Times reported.
In this Aug. 3, 2011 photo, an airline passenger is checked by an advanced imaging technology scanner while going through the Transportation Security Administration security checkpoint at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, in Atlanta. The TSA was created after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. (Erik S. Lesser/AP)
In fact, 154 of those very same machines went to Arkansas, New York and Michigan, among other locations.
The remaining scanners are currently in a warehouse, according to the Times, but the Transportation Security Administration will continue transferring remaining units for use by government agencies.
"TSA and the vendor are working with other government agencies interested in receiving the units for their security mission needs and for use in a different environment," TSA spokesman Ross Feinstein told the Federal Times earlier this month.
Natalie Behring/Getty Images
The machines will likely not cause as much of a stir in prisons and jails, where inmates obviously enjoy fewer freedoms than the general public.
The machines were removed from airports in 2013 amid concerns over the nearly nude images that they conjured to ensure that airport passengers were not concealing weapons.
The TSA now uses a different type of scanner that relies more on cartoon-like images of passengers.
(H/T: LA Times)
