MELBOURNE, Australia - October 15, 2008 - New 'strip search' full body scanners being tested in Australia will show people's private parts, officials have admitted.

But to spare their blushes, the faces of passengers will be blurred.

Domestic travelers leaving Melbourne airport over the next six weeks will be asked to test the new security scanners that can see through clothing.

Critics have described the X-ray backscatter body scanner as a "virtual strip search."

The scanner is similar to one that was tested at Paddington station in London in 2006 in direct response to the tube bombings in July 2005.

Similar systems have also been tested at Gatwick airport.

Cheryl Johnson, general manager of the Office of Transport Security, said, “It will show the private parts of people, but what we've decided is that we're not going to blur those out, because it severely limits the detection capabilities.”

“It is possible to see genitals and breasts while they're going through the machine, though,” she admitted.

Ed. Note: If a TSA agent orders a minor into one of these machines, he or she should be arrested for child pornography.