WASHINGTON D.C. (BNO NEWS) – Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano on Friday announced additional funds for installing advanced imaging technology (AIT) to eight airports nationwide.

The undisclosed amount of funding was possible due to an award from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The funds will be used to strengthen the security at U.S. airports while creating jobs.

“Deploying advanced imaging technology at these airports strengthens our ability to protect the traveling public in the face of evolving threats to aviation security,” said Secretary Napolitano. “Through the Recovery Act, we are able to continue our accelerated deployment of enhanced technology as part of our layered approach to security at airports nationwide.”

Thanks to the ARRA funding, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will begin to install AIT units to eight airports in Cleveland, Dayton, Newark, Memphis, New Orleans, Ontario, Portland and St. Louis.

“Advanced imaging technology is an integral tool in TSA’s layered counterterrorism approach that enables us to stay ahead of evolving threats to aviation security. We remain committed to deploying imaging technology to protect the traveling public,” said TSA Administrator John Pistole.

So far, the TSA has installed 200 AIT units nationwide. AIT units are designed to screen passengers for metallic and non-metallic threats like weapons, explosives and other objects concealed under layers of clothing. The new machines include the latest security enhancements to detect new and evolving threats.

The passenger’s privacy is ensured through the anonymity of AIT images as a privacy filter is applied to blur all images and after the screening process the images are deleted immediately and permanently.

Imaging technology is safe for all travelers. The amount of radiation from a backscatter scan is equivalent to two minutes of flight on an airplane and energy emitted by millimeter wave technology is thousands of times less than what is permitted for a cell phone.

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