EU Lawmakers have called for a detailed study of full body scanners, which they have termed a 'virtual strip search', to be made before the technology is implemented in European airports.
Lawmakers voted 361 to 16, with 181 abstentions to ask the bloc's executive European Commission to carry out testing that will assess the full economic, medical and human rights impact of using the full-body scanning technology in airports.
The scanners do not show facial features but allow security to view an outline of a person's body beneath their clothes, making it easier to find hidden objects.
British Conservative member of the EU assembly, Philip Bradbourn said that the scanners could face a ban after the level of concern showed.
"Many travellers will consider these scanners an enormous intrusion. There may be some benefit in having body scanners in our airports, but they should be a last resort and a substitution for a strip search, not a random sample of innocent holidaymakers," said Bradbourn.
The EU decision echoes that of the American Civil Liberties Union, which has long campaigned against use of the scanners for routine checking at US airports, saying they should only be used in place of an intrusive search when there is probable cause.
The technology has already been tested in airports at Heathrow and Luton in Britain, Schiphol airport in Amsterdam and Helsinki's Vantaa airport, as well as at terminals in the US and Australia.
By Daniel Garrun.
Twitter