Security scanners are deployed at Edinburgh Airport to help mitigate the threat from non-metallic improvised explosive devices. This reflects the Government’s current assessment of the risk to aviation in the UK.
All scanners currently deployed at Edinburgh Airport use Automatic Threat Recognition software (ATR). This ensures that passengers’ privacy is respected.
No image of the passenger’s body is created or stored. ATR replaces the need for a human reviewer, and means that the data from the scan is not used to create an image.
Instead, the ATR software uses the scan data to identify areas which should be checked with a targeted hand-search. This information is highlighted on a generic, anonymous figure.
All processing is done electronically, with no intervention by a human screener. Safeguards are in place to make it impossible to save, copy, or transfer data.
For further details on the deployment of security scanners in the UK, and the safeguards in place, including the Code of Practice for the use of security scanners, please see this website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/information-on-the-implementation-of-security-scanners
Not all passengers at Edinburgh Airport will pass through a security scanner, but those who are selected will be required to do so, or to undergo an alternative screening method (if the passenger opts out from being screened by the scanner).
