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Mind-reading hostility detector on its way to an airport near you
Okay, we were just kidding around yesterday with that (actually legitimate) idea for a lie-detecting headband, but now we've found another device that takes a similar concept way, way too far. Here's FAST (Future Attribute Screening Technologies), a system the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is testing that measures facial expressions, pupil dilation, pulse/breathing rates, and skin temperature to determine if someone has hostile intent.
Testing the system with 140 paid volunteers, DHS says it's 79% accurate on hostility and 80% on deception. This is just creepy. Isn't there a law about search and seizure, privacy, anything? Never mind the U.S. Constitution, just protect us from evildoers no matter what, Big Brother. What if someone is just angry at a roommate or girlfriend? It sounds like the DHS should borrow a new name: the Pre-Crime Division, lifted from fiction to fact, right out of Minority Report.
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New Scientist, via Newlaunches
By budgethero at 2:58 PM ON 09/24/08
(from the picture)"im sorry miss, but our sensors detect that you are cranky. please step over to the corner until you have calmed down."
By chris at 5:14 PM ON 09/24/08
People tell me I look pissed off a lot. I'm not.
Does this mean I'm gonna get harassed 24/7, what happens if they use it at other places?
I'm screwed.
By Sokar at 5:54 PM ON 09/24/08
If a lie detector is not admisable in court then I'm sure this device witch is very similar will not be sufficient to detain someone. But who am I kidding they will anyway!
By frxnkytruant at 6:15 PM ON 09/24/08
wouldnt the knowledge that this device exists in any airport cause most people to appear nervous in the first place? you thought that taking off your shoes at the metal detectors was bad enough... airport security might as well set up a booth by the entrance with a sign above it that reads 'PREEMPTIVE CAVITY SEARCH'
By coonass at 10:44 AM ON 09/25/08
My wife and I were shaken down by TSA agents at the boarding gate because we were supposedly supposed to get the extra-special search at the security gate. I'm sure that they'd have had to repair a hostility detector if it had been running nearby at the time - the thing would have overloaded.
By American at 12:08 PM ON 09/25/08
Watch the airlines go under when this gets put into place. I for one have no desire to be violated like that. And it is clearly unconstitutional. I see protests everywhere this thing is implemented
(as an aside, if you are gonna use captchka at least maek it HUMAN readable!)
By beowuff at 4:09 PM ON 10/12/09
I, for one, will never get on a plane again. Nothing makes me more hostile then someone between me and my plane.
By Ed smith at 7:21 PM ON 10/23/09
Anyone who supports this kind of crap is guilty of treason and should be treated accordingly.
Restore The Republic.
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Ed smith :
Anyone who supports this kind of crap is guilty of treason and should be treated accordingly. Restore The Republic...More »