As a matter of fact I haven't seen a lot of back scatter scanners in European airports.
Actually only one, in Amsterdam and that was not operational.
My observations may be biased, of course. But I'm pretty certain that I haven't seen any in ZRH, VIE, DUS and PRG and LCY. And even Amsterdam security (which is a huge operation) didn't have one last time I passed it in March.
EDIT : To clarify, the only one I've seen in AMS was in the Summer of 2010. March 2011 I didn't see any
It's a matter of public record in the UK. Look at the web site of any major airport that uses the scanners.
I saw some writing by a guy who (claimed to have) refused the scan a while back, who was (he claimed) told by airport staff that because so few people refuse the scan, his details would automatically be sent to some government department (read: watch list). No idea how accurate his account was, but he certainly seemed quite upset about it, and it does have the ring of truth about it. After all, as many people have observed, "don't fly" is not a practical answer for a lot of circumstances, and in the UK at least, if you want to fly and you're selected, you're getting the virtual strip search and radiation dosage. There ought to be a law that anyone who thinks a 99.whatever% "acceptance" rate under those circumstances implies that almost everyone is happy with the scanners should be locked inside an active scanner with a few textbooks until they get the point one way or another...
On my AMS to SFO flight around two months ago the scanners were operational.
The funny thing is that in the US they have this complicated process "to protect the passengers pricacy" where the person viewing the pictures is located in a special room. The personal directly dealing with the passengers never sees the pictures but just receives an Ack or Nak for each passenger.
In Amsterdam the displays are located directly on the scanners for everyone to see. The makes the whole thing much faster and I think Europeans do not really care about this as much as Americans.
Where you forced through the scanner or did they offer you a choice?
As for UK airports. They seem to have a rather inflexible approach as DO AS WE SAY, OR ELSE! Haven't seen them in London City Airport, though.
I could also imagine that Amsterdam only channels US travelers through the scanners. In Zurich airport the US airlines essentially have half a terminal building reserved for their flight operations during the morning hours. I haven't seen scanners there, but flying mostly within the Schengen area I wouldn't necessarily know.
"A hospital consultant at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary in the UK was barred from boarding his flight at Manchester Airport earlier in the summer after he refused to use the scanner, claiming he could be exposed to X-rays."
As a matter of fact I haven't seen a lot of back scatter scanners in European airports.
Actually only one, in Amsterdam and that was not operational.
My observations may be biased, of course. But I'm pretty certain that I haven't seen any in ZRH, VIE, DUS and PRG and LCY. And even Amsterdam security (which is a huge operation) didn't have one last time I passed it in March.
EDIT : To clarify, the only one I've seen in AMS was in the Summer of 2010. March 2011 I didn't see any