Say "I Opt Out" of Airport Scanners on National Opt Out Day, November 24

Online, November 14, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Say "I Opt Out" of Airport Scanners on National Opt Out Day, November 24
Contact: James Babb, Co-Founder, We Won't Fly, 610-674-1222, WeWontFly.com

Philadelphia, PA - Pro-consumer grassroots effort We Won't Fly is organizing mass x-ray scanner opt outs at airports around the nation for National Opt Out of the Airport Scanners Day, November 24, in order to highlight the health and privacy dangers of the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) backscatter x-ray airport scanners.

"Under no circumstances should children be touched by TSA employees," said We Won't Fly co-founder James Babb. "The best choice for passengers is to opt-out of the radiation and the groping by avoiding airports entirely. For those that must fly, consider opting out of the scan. It's better for your health and will bog down their security theater."

"Not only are these porno scanners a gross violation of individual privacy," said co-organizer George Donnelly, "they're also a threat to the health of millions of passengers and ineffective as well. The goal of the demonstrations is to urge Americans to exercise their legal right to 'opt out' of the scan."

According to a recent article in the San Diego Entertainer[1], "The scans are detailed enough to identify a person's gender... to identify a passenger's surgery scars, or to discern whether a woman is on her menstrual cycle or not." CNN reports[2] that the scanners include network connections and images can be stored and shared by design. As CBS News recently reported[3], US Marshals saved 35,000 images from similar devices at just one courthouse.

"This time they've gone too far," declared Philadelphia Opt Out Day rally co-organizer Ken Krawchuk. "I have three beautiful daughters, and the last thing I want is some stranger groping them or snapping nude pictures under color of law. Every parent should be outraged at such a gross violation of their children's privacy. Enough is enough!"

The scanners arguably add little or nothing to passenger security. In a recent Vancouver Sun article[4], former chief security officer of the Israeli Airport Authority Rafi Sela called the scanners ineffective. "I don't know why everybody is running to buy these expensive and useless machines. I can overcome the body scanners with enough explosives to bring down a Boeing 747."

University of California scientists noted[5] that the airport scanners may pose a serious health risk. In a letter of concern issued earlier this year, they stated, "Our overriding concern is the extent to which the safety of this scanning device has been adequately demonstrated. This can only be determined by a meeting of an impartial panel of experts that would include medical physicists and radiation biologists at which all of the available relevant data is reviewed."

"It is breathtaking to witness the speed at which a mere bureaucracy has undone the dignity and freedom of Americans", added Donnelly. "The TSA can not continue without our consent. Act now. Travel with dignity. Opt out. Better yet, just don't fly."

We Won't Fly is a pro-consumer grassroots effort to encourage travelers to stop flying until the x-ray scanners have been removed, and to demand that airlines join with concerned consumers in opposition to the scanners and enhanced pat-downs. For more information, visit WeWontFly.com/opt-out-day.

Contact: James Babb, Co-founder, We Wont Fly, 610-574-1222, jamesbabb@mac.com, www.WeWontFly.com

Footnotes:
[1] www.sdentertainer.com/news/tsa-installs-body-scanners-san-diego-international-airport/
[2] www.youtube.com/watch?v=muYh8d70yow
[3] www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20012785-504083.html
[4] www.vancouversun.com/travel/Full+body+scanners+waste+money+Israeli+expert+says/2941610/story.html
[5] news.ucsf.edu/news-briefs/details/ucsf-scientists-speak-out-against-airport-full-body-scans/