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UK body scanners - opt outs permitted 22 November 2013

Old Jul 18, 2013, 9:11 am
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Last edit by: stifle

As and from 22 November 2013, passengers who are selected for a body scan may decline and receive a "private search alternative".

Body scanners are in place or on their way to the majority of major international airports in the UK. As of the end of 2013, they are deployed in LHR, LGW, BHX, MAN, EDI, GLA, STN, LCY, and BFS and were deployed in late 2014/early 2015 to ABZ, BHD, BRS, CWL, EMA, LBA, LPL, LTN, NCL and PIK. Until 21 November 2013, passengers declining a scan once selected were denied passage through the checkpoint and offloaded from their flight. As of 22 November 2013, passengers selected may decline a scan and will be hand-searched in a private room. This search may require the loosening or removal of some items of clothing and the passenger may have a witness present. The passenger's carry-on items will also be thoroughly searched and may be subject to explosive threat detection swabbing. Details of some FlyerTalkers' opt-out experiences can be read in post #606 and #661.

All body scanners in the UK are of the millimetre wave type. Backscatter machines were previously used but withdrawn in 2012. There are 4 models in use: the L3 ProVision, the L3 ProVision 2, the Smiths eqo (which has a passing resemblance to the single-pose Rapiscan backscatter), and the Rohde & Schwarz Quick Personnel Scanner. All use Automatic Threat Recognition software so the result of the scan is immediately visible in the form of a so-called "Gumby" figure on the screen. The passenger and the security clerk will see the figure and any anomalies are outlined with boxes; these areas are then patted down.

Scanners are not used as primary and all passengers pass through walk-through metal detectors in the first instance. In most locations, the scanner is associated with one WTMD and if you trigger this WTMD you will be directed to the scanner. Note that WTMDs in the UK are set to randomly beep with a certain probability (perhaps 15%) even if you have no metal. In some locations, however, the scanner is set back from the checkpoint and security clerks select people based on undisclosed criteria, sometimes after they have already packed up their stuff and put it back in their bags/pockets/etc.

A passenger may, if so inclined, request to be screened by the scanner rather than passing through the WTMD, which one supposes may be preferable to certain passengers possessed of metal implants which they cannot divest.

Historically the chance of being selected for scanning on any given trip was quite low, as there are generally multiple lanes at any given checkpoint but only one or two scanners. This is now changing at non-London airports where the lanes with scanners are used most and non-scanner lanes only opened to handle peak demand, and at London airports where more scanners are being installed. It was also usually the case through 2014 that fast track lanes for premium and status passengers were WTMD only; this is sadly history now.

Unless otherwise stated, the scanners below are located behind WTMDs and passengers beeping the WTMDs are scanned.

Scanner locations per airport:

LHR T1: Closed
LHR T2: Scanners on all lanes behind WTMD, except the very furthest lane from the entrance.
LHR T3: Recent information required.
LHR T4: Recent information required.
LHR T5: Scanners on most lanes behind WTMD. Due to limited space the lanes at either end of north checkpoint and at either end of south checkpoint (but not fast track) are scanner-free.
LGW TN: WTMD + scanner in every lane.
LGW TS: WTMD + scanner in every lane. Sometimes scanners switched to primary.
MAN: Scanners: one per checkpoint, used as secondary screening in lieu of pat-down if WTMD triggered.
EDI: Update needed from new checkpoint
STN: Scanners behind the WTMDs for lanes 7/8 and 15/16.
LCY: Scanners in both checkpoints, used as secondary. Two safe lanes in the old checkpoint (the one with automatic boarding pass scan gates) so use that and try to SDOO.
GLA: Between lanes 3 and 4. Note, fast track normally uses lanes 1 and 2 but you can get unlucky. (Updated 25 January 2014)
BFS: Scanner used as secondary if you trip the WTMD.
ABZ: Information needed
SOU: Scanner behind the only WTMD
BHD, LPL, BRS, EMA, NCL, LBA, LTN, CWL: Information also needed

See also: https://www.gov.uk/government/speech...ty-scanners--2
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UK body scanners - opt outs permitted 22 November 2013

Old Feb 26, 2016, 4:36 pm
  #826  
 
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Originally Posted by Skatering
Anyone happen to know if these things are present in JER, and if so, what rules the Crown Dependencies have on opt-outs?
I was here about a month ago (Jan 2016) and saw only WTMD's.

I also departed Gatwick North at one point on the same trip. There was indeed a body scanner at the far left of the checkpoint. Several lanes open at the time so it was easy to stay away.
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Old Mar 10, 2016, 11:02 pm
  #827  
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I went through LHR last month. I went through at LHR terminal 5. I am on the way to Basel to see my brother. I passed through at security and I went through metal detector. They let me kept my shoes on and belts on, too. I have no problem with LHR security. I listen with screener.

And coming back home from LHR. I have to change the terminals. I have go to Terminal 3. I took connection bus. I have go back at security again and then went onto the concourse. I passed through at security and they let me kept my shoes on & belts on. I put a small bag in the bin and that's it. I have no problem with LHR security at all.
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Old Mar 11, 2016, 12:21 am
  #828  
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Yes, LHR and UK airports in general do not require belts to be removed unless they have a large metal buckle, nor shoes unless they are boots or heels. That's normal.
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Old Mar 11, 2016, 12:32 am
  #829  
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Cambridge, UK
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My preference is to always remove my belt. It doesn't have a large buckle, but triggers the WTMD at some airports.

I became overconfident after passing through Vatican security about four times in a day whilst still wearing it, then got a pat down at FCO airport the following day and NCE a few days after that.
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Old Mar 18, 2016, 3:05 pm
  #830  
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Originally Posted by N830MH
I went through LHR last month. I went through at LHR terminal 5. I am on the way to Basel to see my brother. I passed through at security and I went through metal detector. They let me kept my shoes on and belts on, too. I have no problem with LHR security. I listen with screener.

And coming back home from LHR. I have to change the terminals. I have go to Terminal 3. I took connection bus. I have go back at security again and then went onto the concourse. I passed through at security and they let me kept my shoes on & belts on. I put a small bag in the bin and that's it. I have no problem with LHR security at all.
That's pretty normal worldwide, unless you have metal shoes (stiletto heels and steel-capped boots being the obvious examples). USA has their own rules of course.

The only thing is that if you do set off the metal detector, even at random, the first thing you will be asked is to take off your shoes ... this takes me about five minutes.
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Old Apr 30, 2016, 3:28 am
  #831  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 46
Updates?

Any updates from LGW (Gatwick) North? A new security area has opened there, apparently in operation since February 2016. Also, strangely, the Gatwick website has removed all opt out information from the page...
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Old May 16, 2016, 11:20 am
  #832  
 
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What is the difference between the pat down if the passenger 'beeps' the WTMD where there are no body scanners compared to opting out of a body scan? Is it only in the states where the security staff are conducting more extensive pat downs if opting out of a body scan?

Can the checks be done in public if opting out or does it have to be done in private? Is it normally a private room or just in a separate area?

Does the airport require the passenger to sign any form? If so, what does the form say?
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Old May 17, 2016, 6:34 am
  #833  
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Sussex, England
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Unhappy London City LCY -- May 2016

This is what I saw in London City LCY last week.

One main line leading to one x-ray belt, one WTMD and one body scanner.
Another line, taped off with a tensa barrier that a woman was opening every so often to let passengers into a second line, seemingly doing so once the main queue got backed up too much. This second line had an x-ray belt and WTMD but no body scanner.

I just missed out being able to go through the non-scanner lane. There is no real way to self-select to go through the non-scanner lane. The woman controlling the filtering into the second line was pretty hawk-eyed and you could only go through if she personally addressed you and motioned you to go through. People trying to go through uninvited were told to stay in the main queue.

I divested myself of every bit of metal and went through the WTMD without bleeping. The passenger in front of me who had bleeped told the security staff she didn't want to go through the body scanner but they said "You'll be taken away to a different part of the airport and all of your luggage will be thoroughly scanned". After fifteen seconds of remonstrating she submitted to the body scanner given this veiled threat that she might miss her flight.

I have made a new Freedom of Information request to ask the Department for Transport whether passengers requesting a manual search are then obliged to have their luggage undergo an enhanced thorough scan, i.e. having your entire bag emptied and every single item examined. This happened to me once in London City airport when I'd inadvertently left a Bic pen-sized screwdriver in my computer bag -- this was in the days before body scanners at London City though.

Touch-wood I've managed to avoid being asked to go through the scanner and I've never had to ask to opt out -- a relative miracle given how often I go through Gatwick South!
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Old May 17, 2016, 8:28 am
  #834  
 
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New freedom of information request response re. body scanner use in UK airports

Hot off the press from the UK Department for Transport.
---------------------------------

Airport Security Scanners


Thank you for your e-mail of 17 April to the FOI Advice team about airport security scanners. I have been asked to respond.
[snipped see link to PDF for full letter]

In particular, you have heard anecdotal accounts of passengers that request an alternative to a body scan, being told by airport security personnel in the UK that police will be contacted to confirm the passenger's details and you have a number of questions which are as follows:

1. If selected for a body scan, may a passenger opt out from being scanned in a body scanner and instead be allowed an alternative search?
Yes. As explained in the 2014 response, in November 2013, the Secretary of State announced that passengers who opt out of being screened by a security scanner would be allowed a private search alternative. This is a method of screening which is considered to be of an equivalent security value to a security scan. These revised arrangements are kept under review to ensure that high levels of security are maintained whilst avoiding disproportionate impacts on airports and passengers.

2. Upon having requested an alternative search, is a passenger then compelled to disclose his/her: a. reason for not wishing to submit to a scan; b. name; c. address; d. flight time; e. flight destination; f. nationality; g. occupation; h. date of birth; i. any other personal information?
No. As explained in the 2014 response, airports may ask a passenger who is selected for scanning but chooses to opt out to give their reasons for doing so in order to assist and facilitate the search process. The Department does not require the information given to be kept by the airport.

3. Upon having requested an alternative search, is a passenger then compelled to show an identifying document, e.g. passport, boarding pass?
No. However, airports may advise a passenger who is selected for scanning but chooses to opt out, that an alternative search will take significantly more time than passing through a security scanner.

4. Are passengers who request an alternative search required to fill in a form to state consent to this alternative search? If so what personal details need to be disclosed on this form?
No. As explained in the 2014 response, the Department for Transport does not require a consent form to be completed passengers who request an alternative method of search after being selected to go through a security scanner.

5. Is the personal information of passengers who have opted out from a body scan passed on to the Department for Transport, the police, or any other government body? If so, what information, and which bodies?
No. As explained in the 2014 response, the Department might in future ask airports for aggregated information on the number of passengers choosing to opt out and the reasons given, but this would not be on an individual basis.

6. Is a passenger obliged to disclose any personal information whatsoever if he or she willingly submits to an alternative search after declining a body scan?
No. Please see the answer to Question 2 above.

7. Is there a Department of Transport mandate that the hand baggage and/or checked-in luggage of a passenger who willingly submits to an alternative scan needs to be subjected to a secondary enhanced security inspection?
No. However, airports have discretion to apply stricter security controls. This would be a matter for the airport.

I hope that you have found this response helpful.

Yours sincerely,

Bryan Small


------------------
Source where you can print off a letter-headed PDF to show to belligerent security personnel:
attachment.pdf

Essentially DoT policy has not changed since 2014 where passengers are not obliged to do anything other than submit to a manual search when opting out of a body scan. Despite assertions of security personnel at airports, you don't have to give your details, sign any consent form, be reported to the police, or have your luggage subjected to an enhanced search, etc., simply as a result of opting out of a body scan.
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Old May 17, 2016, 3:44 pm
  #835  
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It's pretty amazing that British authorities are willing to answer these questions so directly and specifically. The TSA would probably say "due to security reasons we cannot disclose the procedure, which is subject to change at any time" or some other non-answer.
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Old May 17, 2016, 4:36 pm
  #836  
 
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Originally Posted by Frog Escalator
you don't have to [...] have your luggage subjected to an enhanced search, etc., simply as a result of opting out of a body scan.
Not by order of the government, but security staff may still decide to do that, and if they're not satisfied that they have not been able to establish you're safe to fly, you won't fly.
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Old May 18, 2016, 3:41 am
  #837  
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Sussex, England
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Originally Posted by mfkne
Not by order of the government, but security staff may still decide to do that, and if they're not satisfied that they have not been able to establish you're safe to fly, you won't fly.
OK ... but it's good to have a clear government department statement because security staff pretty much go on hearsay or make up the rules as they go along. For me at least, it's great to have this government response on two pages to print double-sided and even give out a copy to security staff if I need to opt out.
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Old May 18, 2016, 12:12 pm
  #838  
 
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Are opt-out pat downs done in a private room or just in a separate area of the airport?

What is the official reason for claiming that a private search would increase safety?

Has anyone questioned any appropriate authority as to the necessity to make the searches in private, as it rather seems to happen to discourage opt outs.
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Old May 18, 2016, 3:48 pm
  #839  
 
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To be clear: The UK only do this to harass dissenters because it's within the bounds of the law (EU 1147/2011), which too vaguely states:

Passengers shall be entitled to opt out from a security scanner. In this case the passenger shall be screened
by an alternative screening method including at least a hand search in accordance with Attachment 4-A of
Commission Decision (2010)774
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Old Sep 17, 2016, 3:04 am
  #840  
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Stansted now has two body scanners.

One located between lanes 7 and 8, the new one between lanes 15 and 16.

At less busy times, only these lanes appear to be open.
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