Latest News

The agency said it canceled a contract, originally worth $40 million, with the maker of the scanners, Rapiscan, after the company failed to meet a Congressional deadline for new software that would protect passengers' privacy. Since going into widespread use nearly three years ago, the scanners have been criticized by passengers for being too invasive and are the subject of lawsuits from privacy groups.

The T.S.A. began deploying the scanners in 2010, after an attempt by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian citizen, to blow up a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight by setting off explosives hidden in his underwear. The T.S.A. said that 174 of the machines are currently being used at airport checkpoints around the country. Another 76 are housed at a storage facility in Texas.

Rapiscan will be required to pay for removing the scanners. In a statement, Deepak Chopra, the company's president, said the decision to cancel the contract and remove the scanners was a "a mutually satisfactory agreement with the T.S.A." The company said that scanners would be used at other government agencies.

The removal of the Rapiscan scanners does not mean that all full-body scanners will be removed from airport security checkpoints. A second type of full-body scanner does not produce revealing images. Instead, it makes an avatar-like projection on security screens.

The T.S.A. said those machines, which should be in airports by June, will allow quicker scans than those using X-rays.

"This means faster lanes for the traveler and enhanced security," the agency said.