Fed: Australian travellers willing to bare it all before flying

AAP General News (Australia)
04-14-2010
Fed: Australian travellers willing to bare it all before flying

Eds: Embargoed until 0001 AEST Wednesday, April 14



SYDNEY, April 14 AAP - Australian travellers are willing to bare it all before catching
a flight, with the majority supporting full body scans at airports, a survey has found.

Seventy per cent of adults are in favour of the controversial devices, which scan passengers'
bodies and produce images that can reveal objects hidden under clothing, the latest Unisys
Security Index survey of 1200 people shows.

Of the 80 per cent of respondents who travel by air, 77 per cent said they would be
happy to provide personal data such as passports and driver's licences ahead of departure
to help combat threats to aviation security.

And sixty-eight per cent said they wouldn't mind proving their identity by handing
over biometric data via iris scans and fingerprints.

"These are significant results which clearly demonstrate the willingness of the flying
public to participate in measures designed to safeguard their travels," John Kendall of
Unisys Asia Pacific said in a statement.

The endorsement of greater security by Australians sends a message to aviation regulators
that the community wants more stringent measures, he added.

The Unisys survey, conducted by Newspoll in February, also registered a rise in fears
over personal safety and the security of personal information.

The results come after the federal government announced full body scanners will start
appearing next year as part of a $200 million plan to beef up anti-terrorism measures.

It follows the attempted Christmas Day attack on a US-bound flight by Nigerian underpants
bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

AAP bzs/tr/apm

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