Transportation Security Agency officials placed new protocols into action forcing airport passengers through a fully body X-ray security scanner alarming many members of the general public.

According to the TSA, about 70 airports across the country have been installed with the nicknamed “naked scanner.” It’s understandable that in lieu of 9/11 there would be a demand for higher security. However, the TSA’s scanners are so invasive that some passengers have put their fear of hijackings aside to protest the body scanners, not that the TSA has listened.

Airport security shouldn’t be something that makes the public cringe with embarrassment at the idea of putting their body on display for the sake of security. While the TSA has claimed the these machines cannot store images of the people who walk through them, more than a hundred photos from various airport scanners have been leaked bringing these claims into question.

The last thing passengers should have to worry about, in addition to all the other hassles associated with the airport, is the possibility that their body scan will end up floating around some dark corner of the Internet. The government and the TSA should never have the right to look under civilian’s clothing, especially if they can’t follow up on their promises passenger privacy will still be protected.

While an effective technology, for the TSA to force body scanners on the general public without first working out all the kinks is uncalled for. Not only does the body scanner intrude on privacy, not only has the TSA failed to keep its promise of protecting the modesty of passengers who submit to the body scanner, but at this point trips to the airport feel like a mini-vacation to prison especially when the only alternative to the body scanner is a full body pat down.

Airport security is important, however that does not mean that people should feel like inmates every time they decide to fly somewhere.