A leading Israeli security expert thinks the new full body scanners are a waste of money, reports the Vancouver Sun :

“A leading Israeli airport security expert says the Canadian government has wasted millions of dollars to install “useless” imaging machines at airports across the country.

“I don’t know why everybody is running to buy these expensive and useless machines. I can overcome the body scanners with enough explosives to bring down a Boeing 747,” Rafi Sela told parliamentarians probing the state of aviation safety in Canada.”

Unfortunately, Sela seems to think the “trusted traveler” program is better:

“Sela testified it makes more sense to create a “trusted traveler” system so pre-approved low-risk passengers can move through an expedited screening process. That would leave more resources in the screening areas, where automatic sniffing technology would detect any explosive residue on a person or their baggage.”

Unfortunately for privacy advocates, this is a move from the frying pan to the fire. “Trusted traveler” is the name for the biometric ID program. Just recently, on April 14, the Department of Homeland Security announced that the US and Germany would be integrating their respective biometric travel programs.

Since it began in June 2008, the trusted traveler program has expanded rapidly from an initial 3 airports. Last fall, it reached 20 airports.