The European Commission (EC) has adopted new stringent rules on the use of full body scanners at airports.

On Friday, the EC backed the proposal of the European Parliament (EP) for allowing passengers to refuse body scanning and opt for alternative screening methods, the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA) reported.

Under the new rules, which all EU countries are to apply by mid-December, travelers will also be able to decide if they want the scan to be reviewed by a man or a woman.

The face that appears on the scanner's monitor will be blurred and the operators reviewing the images will be held in a separate location so that they cannot see passengers' faces.

The images produced by the scanners will not be stored or copied and will only be reviewed by the respective security officials at the time of the check.

The new provisions also require European airports to provide easily accessible information on the deployment of such imaging technology.

The introduction of such security scanners at airports will not be mandatory for EU member states but if the technology is deployed, its application must comply with the regulations passed on November 11 and the devices must not use X-ray transmission imaging.

Great Britain and the Netherlands currently use full-body scanners and several EU governments have tested them.

The rush to install full body scanners began after a thwarted bomb plot on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day in 2009.

At present there is one leading manufacturer of such body imaging devices.