Thaindian News

Washington, Nov 23 (ANI): White House spokesman Robert Gibbs has said the US airport security agency is working to balance travellers’ privacy concerns with security needs, adding that the controversial new screening would evolve with travellers’ consents.

The BBC quoted Gibbs as saying that President Barack Obama’s highest priority was “to ensure that when you or I or others get on to an airplane, that we can feel reasonably sure that we can travel safely”.

However, some passengers have raised their objection to the use of revealing full-body scanners and “pat-downs”.

Earlier, Transportation Security Administration head John Pistole said that there would be no short-term changes.

“What I’m doing is going back and looking at, are there less invasive ways of doing the same type of screening?” he said.

Gibbs’ and Pistole’s comments came amid growing complaints over the new procedures, revealing full-body scanners and intrusive “pat-downs” for those opting out of scans, the report said.

Over the weekend, both Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke out on the issue of airport screening.

“You have to constantly refine and measure whether what we’re doing is the only way to assure the American people’s safety,” Obama told the TSA, while Clinton said that she would not submit to a security pat-down “if I could avoid it”. (ANI)