A high-ranking United Nations official advised Monday against the deployment of full-body scanners at airports. Martin Scheinin, the UN Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism, said the scanners are more of a political response to terrorist attacks than a carefully designed security measure. Scheinin’s comments came just days after the Transportation Security Administration announced that eleven more US airports will receive body-scanning technology. Scheinin said technologies that intrude into privacy tend to be ineffective in preventing terrorism.

Martin Scheinin: “Full-body scanners are ineffective in detecting a genuine terrorist threat if they do not reveal dangerous substances in body cavities, body folds or in hand luggage. They may also give a false feeling of security and allow the real terrorists to adapt their tactics to the technology in use.”