The new system uses a screen that displays a gray silhouette of a generic body. The screen is placed at security checkpoints in a spot where both the traveler and the security agent can see it.
In demonstrations Friday using TSA employees as travelers, yellow boxes appeared on the silhouette denoting items that needed to be removed, such as cellphones or keys.
Under the previous system, the images of travelers' bodies were displayed in a separate room, where a TSA officer would radio the officer at the checkpoint that a traveler was carrying an item that needed to be scanned. The new system speeds that process by using the yellow boxes to display the exact locations of the offending items, according to Donald Drummer, the airport's federal security director.
"In the past there was an image-viewing room that was remote that looked at a body-specific image," Drummer said. "In this case we will have a silhouette on the screen that both the passenger and our officer will see and they will know where to target."
Employees currently assigned to image-viewing rooms will be shifted to other positions within the agency, a TSA spokeswoman said.
The body scanners' debut last fall sparked a heated debate over security concerns vs. travelers' privacy. In response, New Jersey's legislature issued a resolution urging Congress to review the program.
Others called the scans - and the enhanced pat-downs given to those who opted not to be scanned - violations of the Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches. The system also created concerns that the naked images could be downloaded and distributed.
According to TSA statistics, about 2 percent of travelers have opted out of the scans and submitted to pat-downs. The new generic body scans could lower that number, though some travelers may opt out due to concerns over exposure to radiation.
State Sen. Michael Doherty (R., Hunterdon), one of the lawmakers behind the New Jersey resolution last fall, said the new technology still doesn't address the pat-downs, which he said violate privacy rights.
"This doesn't change much, in my opinion," he said Friday. "The Fourth Amendment requires the issuance of a warrant by a judge, after probable cause has been issued to the judge, to allow an invasion of someone's personal privacy like that. It's a real problem that the Fourth Amendment continues to be trampled on."
Deborah Jacobs, executive director of ACLU New Jersey, which also has been critical of the security procedures, said privacy concerns remain for people who use colostomy bags or wear adult diapers, for instance. She also said it was unclear whether the nude images already taken of travelers are accessible to TSA employees.
