WASHINGTON - The public should have had the chance to raise concerns about full body scanners before the government put them in airports around the country, a federal Appeals Court said yesterday. But now that the machines are there, the government doesn’t have to stop using them.
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ordered the Transportation Security Administration to start soliciting comments about the machines.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center, a civil liberties group, tried to force the TSA to stop using the machines, arguing that they violated privacy and religious freedom laws and the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches.
The court did not find that the machines violated the Fourth Amendment and said that, because the scanners have become an essential part of airport security, they can remain in use while the public comments.
