People have been left horrified after discovering what the airport security can see through the x-ray machine.

It’s one of life’s little annoyances – airport security. The queues, the waiting, the inconvenience – being stuck behind a family of 20 who have a apparently never been out in public before… but it’s a necessary step in air travel to keep us all safe.

Rapiscan X-ray machines were brought into airports in the 2010s and at the time, caused some controversy.

Introduced by the TSA or Transportation Security Administration in the US after the 25 December 2009 bombing attempt, these machines changed the way security worked at the airport.

The machines were introduced after Umar Farouk tried to set off explosives that were hidden in his underwear on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. Thankfully, due to fast-thinking passengers, crisis was averted.

However, this close call prompted TSA to bring in 174 scanners in 30 different airports across the US at no small cost of $180,000 per machine.

The UK also implemented similar machines in 2013 much to the public’s dismay – the X-Ray machines were nicknamed ‘virtual strip searches’ at the time.

People were not happy that the machine showed body shape and even personal anatomy. One person wrote on social media: “I’ll just drive everywhere, thanks.”  while another joked that it was ‘security theatre’.

In 2013, the backlash was so bad that the TSA removed the machines due them not being able to meet privacy standards. They were then replaced with millimeter wave scanners, which are what we see today.

The new tech does not reveal the passengers private body image but more a generic outline.

Shawna  Redden, a researcher and author of 101 Pat-Down’s explained to Reader’s Digest: “Early versions of the scanners came out without any privacy protections. Now, machines generate generic images instead of the passenger’s unique image.”

The upgrade in machines has not stopped people on social media form being horrified that the old machines were ever in use. One person commented: “I thought X-ray meant you could only see bones,”  while another said: “Guess I’ll be tucking my junk text time, just in case.”