Terrorist ‘Pre-Crime’ Detector Field Tested in United States

May 28th, 2011

This is the most hilariously unworkable Magic 8 Ball boondoggle that I’ve ever heard about. In the annals of grant swindling, this one has to take the cake.

Via: Nature:

Planning a sojourn in the northeastern United States? You could soon be taking part in a novel security programme that can supposedly ‘sense’ whether you are planning to commit a crime.

Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST), a US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) programme designed to spot people who are intending to commit a terrorist act, has in the past few months completed its first round of field tests at an undisclosed location in the northeast, Nature has learned.

Like a lie detector, FAST measures a variety of physiological indicators, ranging from heart rate to the steadiness of a person’s gaze, to judge a subject’s state of mind. But there are major differences from the polygraph. FAST relies on non-contact sensors, so it can measure indicators as someone walks through a corridor at an airport, and it does not depend on active questioning of the subject.

The tactic has drawn comparisons with the science-fiction concept of ‘pre-crime’, popularized by the film Minority Report, in which security services can detect someone’s intention to commit a crime. Unlike the system in the film, FAST does not rely on a trio of human mutants who can see the future. But the programme has attracted copious criticism from researchers who question the science behind it (see Airport security: Intent to deceive?).

Steven Aftergood, a senior research analyst at the Federation of American Scientists, a think-tank based in Washington DC that promotes the use of science in policy-making, is pessimistic about the FAST tests. He thinks that they will produce a large proportion of false positives, frequently tagging innocent people as potential terrorists and making the system unworkable in a busy airport. “I believe that the premise of this approach — that there is an identifiable physiological signature uniquely associated with malicious intent — is mistaken. To my knowledge, it has not been demonstrated,” he says. “Without it, the whole thing seems like a charade.”

One Response to “Terrorist ‘Pre-Crime’ Detector Field Tested in United States”

  1. JWSmythe says:

    It’s not a charade, it’s yet another method to allow searches and detention with “probable cause”. Pick a target that they want to harass, let them test positive on the machine, and now they give up their rights. Or as the TSA and DHS operate now, their probable cause is that you exist.

    Why can they search you, your bag, and question you? Because you came near them. I’ve been interviewed at both airports, and on public property nowhere near airports, simply because I was there.

    When they were searching cars just because they were going to park in short term parking to pick someone up at the airport, I forgot that my NOS (nitrous oxide for the car) tank was in the trunk detached and empty. They searched my car, failed to see the 15 pound blue tank, about 1/2 covered with other stuff, and sent me on my way. Come on.

    For those who don’t know what the tank looks like, look at Google images for 14750NOS.

    Their searches and interrogations are a joke. When I was flying almost every day for work, I was stopped and questioned by TSA about my travels. They asked where I was going. I told them “I don’t know. Let me see my boarding pass and I’ll tell you.” It was an honest answer. I had been traveling every day for two weeks, each time to different destinations. I always looked at the boarding pass to aim myself at the right gate, and then again after security to make sure I was at the right gate going to the right city.

    It’s really tough for someone with DSPS to try to navigate an airport at 7am. Ya, I’m one of the 0.15% of the population. I’m honestly not functional until noon. Early flights suck. I sit close to the gate, and go to sleep. I wake up because people are making noise around me (getting ready to board), so I get on the plane and go back to sleep. The light switch kicks on at noon, and all is fine. 🙂

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