Stories
BCAS Refines Full Body Scanners: Trials at Bengaluru, Cochin Airports Underway
- •Aviation security watchdog BCAS is collecting data from ongoing trials of full body scanners at Bengaluru and Cochin airports.
- •The algorithms of these scanners will be refined based on trial outcomes before wider deployment.
- •BCAS Director General Rajesh Nirwan stated that full body scanners are mandated for eight airports, though Cochin is not among them.
- •Privacy concerns are being addressed by making scanners 'image agnostic,' displaying only suspicious areas.
- •Algorithms are being refined with vendors to account for typical items worn by Indian citizens, such as ornaments and mangal sutra, to reduce false alarms.
Key Questions Answered
Full body scanners are currently undergoing trials at Bengaluru and Cochin airports, where the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security is actively gathering operational data to assess performance. Secondary sources note that pilot testing has also extended to major metro locations like Delhi and Hyderabad.
To address privacy concerns, the scanners are being engineered to be 'image agnostic', meaning they display only a generic model of a person rather than a detailed scan. If suspicious items or objects are detected, the screen will only highlight that specific body part.
BCAS is refining the scanner algorithms because the current software was designed for foreign markets and can trigger false alarms due to traditional items commonly worn by Indian citizens. These adjustments are being made in close collaboration with equipment manufacturers using trial data.
