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Katie Couric's Notebook: Airport Security

By now, we all know the drill at the airport: take off your shoes, put your toothpaste in a plastic bag, and your laptop in a tray by itself.

Now, Americans coming home from abroad are getting used to full-body pat-downs and hand checks of luggage ... and that could be just the beginning.

Some European airports are installing full body scanners that see through clothes. Canada banned carry-ons aboard U.S.-bound flights. And Slovakian authorities placed bomb components in a passenger's bags without his knowledge as a test. No one discovered them ... until he was detained in Ireland.

These tactics make many Americans uneasy. We don't like our privacy invaded. But safety has to come first. Most of the security measures we endure were put there after previous acts of terrorism.

There's a fine line between protecting our rights and our lives ... and it moves a little more ... every time someone tries to find a new way to hurt us.

That's a page from my notebook.

I'm Katie Couric, CBS News.

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