[hkmurakami]

I don't doubt that health harms are minimal if any, but every time I go through these I get a very weird sensation in my torso which I'm just not fond of, so I've started opting out since December.

I personally don't mind the patdown at all, and the TSA personnel have all been professional each time I've requested to opt out. I do wonder what would happen if a significant minority started opting out, since that would most likely clog the system pretty badly.

[cheald]

I've opted out every time I've ever ended up in a scanner line, but the millimeter wave stuff is absolutely significantly more safe than the backscatter, specifically because it doesn't use ionizing radiation.

Of course, it's also easily defeated[1][2] by anyone that knows what they're doing, so it's not like it's keeping us particularly safe.

[1] http://tsaoutofourpants.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/1b-of-nude-...

[2] http://americablog.com/2010/01/german-tv-highlights-failings...

[tsaoutourpants]

That TSA Out of our Pants guy seems pretty smart!