Canada's privacy commissioner has okayed an airport scanner that sees through clothing. (Associated Press)

An airport scanner that shows a person's partially naked outline on screen, including genitalia, has received the blessing of Canada's privacy czar.

Chantal Bernier, the assistant privacy commissioner, said Friday the national air-security agency has successfully answered her office's questions about the project.

The system, recently tested in British Columbia at the Kelowna airport, allows a screening officer to see whether someone is carrying plastic explosives or other dangerous items.

The proposal has stirred controversy because the scanner produces a three-dimensional outline of a person's naked body.

Under the plan approved by the privacy chief, the officer would view the image in a separate room and never see the actual traveller.

Only people singled out for extra screening would be scanned, and they would have the option of getting a physical pat-down instead.