To directly answer your question, no I don't think this is a violation of privacy. TSA has put in place a number of controls to limit how much privacy a person loses.

First of all, you are in an airport boarding a plane. You have to give up a certain amount of privacy for this. We agree to show ID, to have our bags x-rayed or searched, walk through a metal detector, answer questions, etc. There is no way law enforcement can do this on the street without probable cause, but we understand that we must waive certain rights in order to board a plane. It's for the safety of everybody.

Second, unless you have a weapon on your person, this scan cannot be traced back to you. It's different from the x-ray machine that scans your bags. The TSA agent is sitting right there looking at that scan. But with this whole body scan, the person running the machine is in a different room with no windows. It is set up like that on purpose. They do it this way because they want to ensure that the person seeing your body on this scan cannot see you as a person. This ensures your privacy.

Third, the machine automatically blurs out faces, so even if the person looking at the screen were somehow able to print out the picture, leave the room, and go looking for you, there's no way to tell that the scan is you.

So basically, when you walk into the scanner, somebody in a windowless room away from the machine hits a button and sees a faceless image on his screen. If there's no weapon, the image is deleted after you leave the scanner, and there's no way to trace it back to you.

Personally, I'm happy this machine exists. It's far more effective than a metal detector at detecting weapons. As a frequent flier, I am glad to know there are no weapons on board.

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