The document scanners being analyzed by the FAA and Customs were
built by Ion Track Instruments (ITI) of Wilmington, Mass., one
of a number of manufacturers of sophisticated particle scanners
used by government agencies in the United States and abroad. The
scanner is designed to detect electronically charged atoms, or
ions, of chemical traces left on travel documents, ITI spokesman
Paul Eisenbraun said.
It's puzzling to read the entire article with no mention of the scanning
which has become familiar in the past couple of years to air travellers in
the San Francisco area at least: an inspector uses a piece of absorbant
paper to wipe your carry-on luggage all over its surface. The paper is
then inserted into a slot in the scanner, to detect explosive residues.
Applying the same idea to the passenger's own papers is an obvious
extension.
Have the authors never experienced this kind of scanning? Or do they
just not want the general public to be aware of what is actually going
on in the airports?
