Nudists on Full-Body Scanners: Bring 'Em On

The use of full-body imaging machines at security checkpoints has caused no small amount of angst for federal agencies. Many air travelers have filed complaints about the use of scanners at Transportation Security Administration airport checkpoints. Last month, Senators questioned the U.S. Marshals Service on why it has stored more than 35,000 whole body scans taken at a federal courthouse in Florida.

All of which, I admit, made me chuckle when Slate's Emily Yoffe pointed out, in a brave first-person report on what it's like at nudist camps, that one group has no problem with the scanners: the American Association for Nude Recreation.

Nudists, she writes, "are the people whose official response to full-body scanners at airports is 'Bring it on!' "

That official response seems to have disappeared from the AANR website, but according to a report in the Economist earlier this year, the group's position was as follows:

Put it in perspective, America. Allowing body scanners aids in travel safety and security, which is far more important than parochial concerns over a scanned image of a clothed body. With the safety of traveling friends and family at stake, why object to an effective, non-invasive technology that gives airport screeners a quick glimpse of one's body mass index?