Willing to give up some privacy to fly safer?

There is a screening unit available in Amsterdam that CANNOT be used on passengers flying into the United States because of privacy issues. The machine is a whole body xray type device that would show up anything taped to the body. The pictures are not saved and anything that would prevent a terrorist from boarding a plane is fine with me.

INSTEAD you can read this article about the ease of getting a device on board a plane

I copied the article from http://www.jsonline.com/news/80244882.html

Experts say anyone who's determined to smuggle bomb components onto a flight can do so

By Meg Jones of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: Dec. 29, 2009

Smuggling explosives onto a plane - as happened on a Detroit-bound flight Christmas Day - is not difficult, aviation security analysts say. If someone really wants to bring bomb-making components onto a commercial plane, it can be done.

Perhaps bomb-sniffing dogs or a pat-down or the new high-definition screening devices might have detected the chemical explosive Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab secreted on his body. Then again, they might not have caught him, considering passengers can bring 3-ounce containers of liquids on board.

"You don't have to be James Bond to figure this out," said Todd Curtis, an aviation industry security expert.

One security analyst says only two changes have made flying safer since Sept. 11, 2001 - stronger cockpit doors and passengers more willing to resist terrorists, which is just what happened in the skies near Detroit.

Bruce Schneir, a security expert and author, pointed out that Chechen terrorists used the same method to bring down two Russian airliners on the same day five years ago when female passengers smuggled the same type of chemical explosive aboard in their underclothes.

"Anyone who thinks they couldn't do this isn't paying attention," said Schneir, who has been an adviser to the Transportation Security Administration.

"There's no way to prevent this, absolutely not. The way you become safer is through investigation and analysis," Schneir said. "Clearly there was a breakdown, and the breakdown happened long before he got to the airport."

Though some airports overseas may appear to have lax security screening standards compared with the United States, all passengers traveling on U.S.-bound flights must go through security screening that's as strict as that in American airports. Security screening at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, which is where Abdulmutallab boarded the flight to Detroit, is similar to American security procedures.

It's possible high-definition screening devices, which clearly show body contours, will be used in more U.S. and overseas airports.

"You can say 'Well, he got through Nigeria's screening and Amsterdam's security.' He probably would have gotten through ours, too," said Tom Bunn, a retired Pan Am and United pilot who is president and founder of SOAR, a program that helps people who fear flying. "If they do such a good job of lining his underwear (with explosives), it's not going to show up except for this high-definition screening device."

Security rules in flux

Meanwhile, in-flight security rules appear to have relaxed after a clampdown that prevented passengers from moving around the cabin an hour before landing. At the captain's discretion, passengers can now keep blankets and computers on their laps. A Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman said the agency was "continually reviewing and updating" security measures.

Restrictions on in-flight entertainment systems that show the plane's path were also lifted.

For practical reasons, it's not possible to pat down every passenger or have bomb-sniffing dogs examine every suitcase and carry-on bag, said Curtis, a former Boeing airline safety engineer who founded an aviation safety Web site, AirSafe.com.

Bunn pointed out that the December 1988 explosion of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, was caused by a radio packed with explosives. At the time, security screening was much more stringent at European airports than in the U.S. It wasn't until after Sept. 11, 2001, that security at American airports became just as stringent.

"Clearly it's a cat and mouse game. We can develop technology which will be very effective in staying ahead of what terrorists can do, but it will require a lot of money and public will to do it. We tend to do things like closing the barn door after the horses have bolted," Bunn said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.