Can you keep a secret?

UNITED STATES: Many travellers feel that full-body scans at airports invade their privacy. But the scans may offer a business opportunity.

People have complained about full-body scans in Internet campaigns, videos and blog posts. But the alternative, a thorough pat-down, is similarly unpopular and invasive. Some passengers have protested by wearing only their underwear when they walk into airports. Now Marcus Carey, a lawyer, has started producing shirts that blur a person’s “private parts” on the scanner image.

Carey offers women's T-shirts with strategically placed stars on the chest, and children’s T-shirts with a smiley in the groin region. Men’s briefs have the letters "USA" across the front. The logos are printed with a type of ink that blocks the scanner's rays.

Testers who wore the clothing during the Christmas holidays were able to pass screening without any problems or delays, says Carey. He reports that sales of the clothing through his site scannershirts.com are better than he expected.

Logos blur a person's "private parts" on the scanner image.

Clothing made by competitors include shirts and underwear with the text of the Fourth Amendment, which guarantees citizens protection from unreasonable search, printed in metallic ink.

Wearing such clothing might prevent the scanner image from showing too much; it doesn’t guarantee privacy, however. A screener who is unsure what is beneath the passenger’s star or smiley may need to perform a thorough pat-down. “Any item that appears to be an anomaly will require additional screening,” Transportation Security Administration (TSA ) spokesman Jim Fotenos told USA Today.