Originally Posted by
senseker
We have one wbi at sfo here, and I work with it every day at the checkpoint. Honestly, the images we see aren't that great, but good enough to determine if you have a wallet in your pocket or a knife strapped to your chest (and that's happened with me before). It's great technology, and it does work. There are signs next to it to explain what it does, and we have people explaining what it does as well. As a passenger, it is your right to not go through it. Anyone who opts out of the wbi instead gets a patdown. Nobody can force you to go through the wbi. It uses zero x-rays, so it's not going to expose you to anything. If I remember correctly, the machine that uses x-rays is the backscatter, a machine we don't use.
Right ... you have the "right" to refuse which TSA will make you pay dearly for if you invoke.
I've refused twice. One time got a very friendly patdown and hassled about why I should have just went thru it. Along with that, my laptop was nearly stolen because they kept me out of view of my belongings. I got my laptop back but it was damaged - which is why I think I got it back in the first place. The other time, I got treated to a bunch of conspiracy theory by the screener screening me.
It was far from a trivial experience either time I refused.
