The Transportation Security Administration announced on Sunday that full-body scanners will be taken out of major New York City airports, LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy International.

The backscatters, the X-ray scanners in the airports, have long been a topic of controversy given the machines’ emission of invasively detailed body images and harmful radiation.

While the TSA stated that the scanners are being removed to accommodate fliers and expedite the travel process, one may wonder whether there was political pressure to drop the controversial machines and appease an increasing chorus of critics. Regardless of motive, the removal of this technology demands a sigh of relief from civil libertarians, as these body scanners made clear that mere ownership of a plane ticket was enough to warrant a private body display, which left little to the imagination.

Major airports across the country are replacing these scanners, including Los Angeles International Airport and Chicago O’Hare International Airport. These major cities, with New York leading the way, feel confident that despite their high-profile status and greater risk for attack, they can protect fliers without using the controversial scanning technique. This move may set a precedent for the rest of the nation, perhaps inspiring the full body scanners to be phased out of U.S. airports completely.

The TSA plans to distribute these scanners to smaller cities while replacing them with new millimeter wave scanners at larger airports. The new technology is less physically invasive and uses a cartoon silhouette of each passenger rather than an up-close examination of the travelers’ bodies. By using low-frequency radio waves, there are also lower health risks than the machines currently in use.

There is a difference between risk mitigation and risk elimination, and while the pursuit of the latter is justifiable, it is impossible. In the wake of public criticism against wasteful spending, the TSA should focus its efforts on streamlining its current processes and reducing its inefficiencies. Removal of these body scanners is one small step in the right direction.

A version of this article appeared in the Tuesday, Oct. 23 print edition. Email the WSN Editorial Board at [email protected].