New EU Justice Chief Cautions on Body Scanners

The European Union's incoming justice chief cited privacy concerns for opposing mandatory body scanners at airports.

Undergoing a body scan should be voluntary, and the image must be destroyed quickly, Viviane Reding said.

"Our citizens are not objects," she told a European Parliament committee Tuesday. "They are human beings."

Reding is to be the next EU justice affairs commissioner.

She plans to take steps to boost privacy protection in agreements the EU signs with the United States and other countries.

EU lawmakers have complained that European governments have put security above civil freedoms by handing personal bank or travel data to U.S. authorities without seeking privacy safeguards.