After many denials, it seems that TSA has finally acknowledged that airport scanners can store body images. From EPIC:
In response to a Congressional inquiry, led by Congressman Bennie Thompson, the Transportation Security Agency acknowledged that images on body scanner machines would be recorded for “testing, training, and evaluation purposes.” The TSA also did not dispute that test mode could be activated in airports, but said this “would” not happen. As part of an ongoing lawsuit, EPIC had previously obtained TSA documents describing the machines’ capabilities to store and transmit detailed images of travelers’ naked bodies. For more information, see EPIC: Whole Body Imaging Technology.
In its response to Congressman Sanders, TSA seems to have sidestepped one of the questions:
4. Under what circumstances, if any, can AIT machines be entered into test mode in the airport settings?
There are no circumstances when the system would be entered into the test mode in an airport environment.
“Would be” and “can” are not the same thing.