Dutch call for scanners to be used at airports

Privacy fears have halted their usage

December 2009

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The Dutch authorities are arguing that the EU should now make airports invest in scanners. They argue that if scanner had been in place at the time the recent terrorist prepared to clear custom and board his flight to the US, he would have been stopped. Amsterdam’s Schipol Airport has a total of 17 scanners using microwaves but their usage has been controversial due to the perceived intrusion of privacy.

The Nigerian recently arrested for attempting to blow up a transatlantic aircraft was travelling on a flight bound for the USA from Amsterdam with hidden explosives. He had successfully boarded the flight without breaching any security checks because he was a transit passenger and therefore was not required to go through a scanner and was therefore, according to the Netherland’s Coordinator for Counterterrorism (NTCB), travelling “in accordance with standard procedures” which meant that the security checks had taken place “according to the rules and no irregularities were observed”.

The airport’s authorities are waiting to see whether had they used the scanner, any irregularities would have shown up. The scanners used at Schipol are not as powerful as those used by border control agencies as they would still not be able to detect any items concealed inside a body.

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