The Commission warned the Government on 16 February that it needs to take immediate action to bring its policy for body scanning passengers at UK airports within the law.
In a letter to the Secretary of State for Transport, Lord Adonis, and detailed legal arguments sent to officials working on the implementation of body scanners, the Commission recognises that the threat posed by terrorist activities means the Government needs to take steps to protect the travelling public.
However, the Commission argues that the current use of body scanners, already in place at Heathrow and Manchester airports, may be breaking discrimination law as well as breaching passengers' right to privacy. It calls on the Secretary of State to ensure that these concerns are addressed.
The Commission considers that greater openness on the part of Government is vital to demonstrate fully how it is intending to comply with the law, specifically within the framework of its equalities and human rights duties, and ensure appropriate accountability and transparency in the roll-out of the use of body scanners to UK airports.
Trevor Phillips, Chair of the Commission said: 'The right to life is the ultimate human right and we support the government's review of security policies.
'State action like border checks, stop and search and full body scanning are undertaken for good reasons. But without proper care such policies can end up being applied in ways which do discriminate against vulnerable groups or harm good community relations.
'National security policies are intended to protect our lives and our freedoms; but it would be the ultimate defeat if that protection destroyed our other liberties.'
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