Schumer Introduces Body Scanner Abuse Bill

Many Americans expressed outrage about the new body scanners used at airports to screen passengers, though interestingly enough, the outcry was louder from non-flyers than those actually subject to the searches. In any case, to safeguard flyers from abuse of the process, Sen. Charles Schumer introduced a bill Sunday that would punish anyone who misuses full-body scan images with up to a year in prison, the Associated Press reports.

Violators also could incur fines of up to $100,000. Privacy advocates worry that safeguards are inadequate to ensure that the revealing images produced by the machines remain private.

The X-ray scans from the machines can see through people's clothing, and the worry is that rogue security personnel might Email images to friends or web sites.