Full body x-ray scanners are being installed and tested this fall at airports across the US, as well as London and Australia, raise privacy issues. A sample image is at right. Some privacy advocates say the technology amounts to a virtual strip search and object to the technology.

US airports installing the technology include:

TSA’s web site indicates that the technology will be used initially as a secondary screening measure, meaning that only those passengers who first fail the standard screening process will be directed to the X-ray area. Even then, passengers will have the option of choosing the backscatter or a traditional pat-down search.

The security agency says the machines will be effective in helping detect plastic or liquid explosives and other non-metallic weapons that can be missed by standard metal detectors.

The TSA indicates the X-ray scanning systems will be set up so that the image can be viewed only by a security officer in a remote location. Other passengers, and even the agent at the checkpoint, will not have access to the picture. TSA states that the agency will delete the raw images, but there is no law or regulation that prevents the agency from saving the original, detailed images.

Critics, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), say the machine constitutes an invasion of privacy as it can display graphic images of nude bodies and its use could pave the way to widespread abuse of the images taken.

In addition, enthusiasts for this technology are already talking about extending its use to other venues where screening might be desirable – subways, buses, federal/state buildings, even colleges and schools. The spread of this technology raises many additional concerns.

Personally, I dislike the technology and object to the invasion of my privacy. I feel that we’ve badly warped the “innocent until proven guilty” premise of our investigative and legal system and we treat everyone, equally, as criminals and terrorists.

I fly frequently, but I do not want to volunteer for an x-ray scan any more than I want my underwires groped or a latex-snapping strip search.

If we allow our fear to turn our airports and cities and into an armed police zone without privacy or freedom, then the terrorists have won and Big Brother is here.

Thursday night on my flight from Anchorage to Seattle, I had the privilege of sitting next to a fascinating woman.

Nadia was the embodiment of the connector, an immediate friend, what Tipping Point author Malcom Gladwell calls those amazing people who “link us up with the world … people with a special gift for bringing the world together.”

She was an Italian/Somalian woman, petite, with clear, caffe latte skin, beautiful long braids, a brilliant turquoise shirt, expressive hands and flashing eyes. Her accent was musical and her laughter frequent.

As she boarded last, as a standby passenger, she needed help with her lead-heavy rollaboard, stuffed stem-to-stern with frozen fish. After we all got it hoisted, perhaps unwisely, into the overhead compartment, she settled in and began telling stories.

Nadia fit no stereotypes. As youthful and exotic as she seemed, she immediately boasted of her three-quarters white grandchildren, showing off pictures of twin, blond haired, blue-eyed three-year-olds. She said she’d asked for a DNA test before providing them with financial and practical support, and yep, they were her descendants.

As the beverage cart rumbled by, she asked, “Do you have any Courvoisier?” She shrugged, and grinned sideways at me. “I’ve been stuck in Dutch Harbor for two years, and tonight I’m going to treat myself.” She bought the only two bottles of cognac on the plan.

She’d been working in the Aleutian Islands as a licensed security officer, inspecting personnel documentation and cargo. She was a polyglot, speaking Somalian, Italian, Spanish and Arabic, and had worked for Health and Human Services as a translator. She left social services after receiving one too many death threats after translating a denial of benefits decision.

She fumed about religion. “God doesn’t want his followers to kill people!” She blamed much war and strife in our world on it. Interestingly enough, she was a Jew, through her mother.

The young man in front of her was a tall, skinny Sudanese Christian refugee who’d fled persecution in his primarily Muslim homeland. He, too, had been in Dutch Harbor, working on a processing boat. Nadia teased him, calling him “Mr. Blue-Black” because of his intensely black skin. Nadia congratulated him; in spite of the lack of any education available to him in Sudan, he was now headed for Western Washington University, showing off his new student ID with great pride.

She spoke a little bit about the situation in Africa – the war-torn nations, religious persecution, human rights issues, extreme poverty, and complete lack of health care for all but the elite. After many years in the US, she was still sending much of her income home to her parents, sisters, brothers where it made all the difference in the world – she proudly showed me the telegrams.

In front of me sat Jamal, an immaculately-dressed African American financial planner in a custom made brown suit and matching top hat. He was on his way home from vacation; I’m sure he was dreading his return to the office, as this was the evening of the worst stock market crash in the last 50 years. It didn’t show. From the minute he boarded he was cheerful, kind, the consummate gentleman. He helped those around them with their luggage, called the flight attendants “Ma’am”, listened attentively to his seatmates, and was fascinated by the story of the two immigrants.

After some conversation, Nadia recognized him; he’d volunteered at a shelter near her DHS office, so they traded downtown Seattle stories.

Towards the end of the flight, she pulled out a lunch bag and shared some of her cooking with the small group around her – samosas (spicy stuffed fried rolls) and injera (ethiopian flatbread). They were delicious – the samosas, especially, filled with a spicy cumin onion lamb mixture.

Nadia, with her connection-making, story-telling, people-charming magic turned what could have been a boring flight, spent reading a book or watching a video, into a fascinating evening of expanded horizons and interesting people.

What was more striking to me, as a fledgling writer, was how she became the center of a web of stories – each person’s uniquely fascinating tale interconnecting because of this one evening’s shared flight.

When I drove past this airplane as I left the Anchorage airport this morning, my first thought was, “What is that?” My second was, “I’ve got to get a picture – it’s not particularly attractive as jumbo aircraft go.” I looped back around and took a couple of shots.

It’s a special, modified Boeing 747 large cargo freighter called the Dreamlifter. Four of them were built to carry aircraft parts and subassemblies in support of the 787 Dreamliner project.

I have a travel pet peeve.

(OK, I travel frequently enough to have many travel pet peeves – but I’m sharing this one today.)

I really detest it when the flight attendants make their sales pitch on the airline’s mileage plan credit card. It annoys me on many levels.

If it were a telemarketer calling me with the same spiel, I’d hang up immediately. I don’t have that option when I’m on the plane, I’m a member of a captive audience, and hearing is the one sense you can’t turn off.

I already paid a pretty penny to be a member of that captive audience, and I shouldn’t be subject to intrusive advertising while I’m picking through my .75 oz of pretzels, crouched in my tiny, uncomfortable seat with the guy in front of me reclined into my lap. It’d be different if I received a discount for being willing to be bombarded with ads, because I didn’t. I wouldn’t take that option!

I especially hate it when it’s a night flight and they wake the whole plane up early to make their sales pitch. Yeah, I’m sure that’s real effective.

The airline needs to consider their demographic. I’d guess that 99% of those flying booked their ticket using a credit card; having access to credit is an entry criteria for air travel. In my case, I’m a frequent flyer. I have to listen to their sales garbage on a really frequent basis. I clamp down on a strong desire to trip them when they come down the aisle – twice this time – waving credit card applications around like they’re major league baseball tickets.

The Alaska Airlines marketing pitch is currently quite misleading, with a hard sell on the “receive 20,000 mileage points, enough for a free ticket anywhere Alaska airlines flies!” Those who read industry news know that AK Air is raising their mileage ticket award threshold to 25,000 points later this fall, so the whole hard sell seems slimy to me.

You know, I already have one of their freaking credit cards. The flight attendants even addressed the existing cardholder issue this time around, with “You can get the mileage bonus if you apply for a business card in addition to your personal card.”

Let me get right on that. What the U.S. economy surely needs now, in this recession, is more access to credit and more people spending themselves into debt.

“All my bags are packed, I’m ready to go…”

I’m hopping on a plane to Denvention 3, the world science fiction convention. The lovely and gracious Anne is putting me up for the weekend, and I’m meeting up with Janiece and Tania while I’m there, so I’m looking forward to some great UCF bonding time.

What do I want out of the weekend? See a couple of famous authors speak – and even get a chance to meet them (Lois McMaster Bujold & John Scalzi, for example). Pull up a quiet table in the bar and watching the weird people of the world go by. Socialize a lot with fellow science fiction fans. Relax and enjoy not being hyperscheduled.

I have a personal rule about blogging. I guess you could call it an acknowledgement of the golden rule, or karma. While I might describe particularly strange goings-on – and take and post pictures of interesting people and places, with permission – I am not going to surreptitiously take pictures of the truly weird and post them here. (Believe me, in downtown Seattle I see plenty.) I wouldn’t want to have my picture taken and posted, however anonymously, in a stupid moment – and I won’t do that to someone else.

I am set up to mobile blog from my BlackBerry, so I’ll be doing that as I can for the next couple of days. See you at the con!

Update:

Road reading: Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson. I really like Stephenson, and I’ve somehow missed this one. At 1152pp, it should keep me busy for a long time, even at my hyper-fast reading rate.

Update 2: First class upgrade! w00t!