What are the TSA pat downs and body scans?

Answer 1

Full-Body Scans:

At an airport in the U.S., the T.S.A. uses full-body scans in order to see if passengers have weapons or explosives hidden in clothing, body cavities, etc. These scanning machines work like X-rays and use electromagnetic radiation at different frequencies that bounce back from solids and liquids and create a black-and-white picture with outlines of objects a passenger is carrying. A T.S.A. officer located in another room looks at this image and determines whether a passenger should be screened further. Passengers are asked to remove belongings that would look suspicious in the scanner, such as metallic items, as well as clothing articles that could block the electromagnetic waves, such as shoes and outer clothing. These items are looked at more closely with the carry-on baggage through another X-ray scanner.

Pat-Down Searches:

Pat-down searches involve a T.S.A. officer of the same gender patting down around a passenger's body with their hands, in order to feel potentially hazardous items such as explosives or weapons. Pat-down searches are used when a T.S.A. officer sees suspicious objects in a full-body scan image, or when passengers refuse full-body scans due to concerns over privacy and radiation.

Answer 2

TSA pat downs are a manual physical inspection performed by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers to ensure there are no prohibited items concealed on a person's body. They involve running hands over sensitive areas of the body to detect any hidden items. Body scans, on the other hand, are a type of security screening where passengers are required to step into a scanner that uses either millimeter wave technology or backscatter technology to create images of the body, which are then reviewed by TSA agents for any potential threats.