Originally Posted by
medic51vrf
If you're consenting it's, by definition, not battery. In the United States a generic definition of battery is "the use of force against another, resulting in harmful or offensive contact." Therefore, if you've consented you do not find such conduct offensive.
Regarding implied consent, I'd have to say that knowingly entering the screening area would be considered implied consent.
One gives implied consent at the airport checkpoint to reasonable, non invasive searches such as to your luggage and carry-on belongings.
However, AFTER you enter the checkpoint, you still have a choice to make wrt the various strip-search machines, whether to enter them or take the patdown, or withdraw from the checkpoint. That is, just showing up there does not give some sort of blanket consent that you cannot withdraw, and this is indeed reflected in the procedures. That is why there is a detailed description of what will be touched and how in the opt-out rubdown ("patdown") You have the option to withdraw.
There is no point in this process where you irrevocably give permission to the blue gloved wonders to lay hands on you however and whenever they wish. They have to ask in the patdown and in the private hut resolution rubdowns. They must ask permission to touch you at any time.
None of the alerts causing physical touch, such as scanner alerts or ETD swabs are remotely close to constituting probable or reasonable cause because of their extremely high false positive rates.