UK Airport Testing 'Naked' Scanner

Manchester Airport in England has begun a trial of a new scanning device that produces "naked" images of passengers, Sky News reports .

The X-ray machines can see through clothing allowing security personnel to see if passengers are hiding explosives or weapons. It can also detect items such as body piercings and breast enlargements.

Authorities say it will speed up security checks, but opponents say it's a privacy violation as intimate parts of the human body will be revealed to airport staff.

The images will only be seen for a matter of seconds by experts in a remote location and will be destroyed instantly, reducing the potential for abuse, argues the airport. Passengers can also refuse to be scanned by the new devices and go through the "human X-ray" or opt instead for a hand search.

Transport officials in the U.S. initially decided not to use the equipment until manufacturers found a way of electronically masking sensitive body parts, but the machines are now being used and tested in 19 airports around the country.

Five years ago, the X-ray machine was used at London's Heathrow Airport, but it was quickly abandoned after travelers expressed shock at the clarity of the pictures.