Looking for hostile intent


A TSA test program monitors biometric responses to "weed out the bad guys"
Okay, when I was asking about invasive medical procedures a few days ago, I was being rhetorical.

The FedGovs weren't.

At airport security checkpoints in Knoxville, Tenn. this summer, scores of departing passengers were chosen to step behind a curtain, sit in a metallic oval booth and don headphones.

With one hand inserted into a sensor that monitors physical responses, the travelers used the other hand to answer questions on a touch screen about their plans. A machine measured biometric responses -- blood pressure, pulse and sweat levels -- that then were analyzed by software. The idea was to ferret out U.S. officials who were carrying out carefully constructed but make-believe terrorist missions.

The trial of the Israeli-developed system represents an effort by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration to determine whether technology can spot passengers who have "hostile intent." In effect, the screening system attempts to mechanize Israel's vaunted airport-security process by using algorithms, artificial-intelligence software and polygraph principles.

For some reason, I keep picturing a digitally reconstructed Joe McCarthy on the screen.

"Are you now, or have you ever been, a terrorist?"

Additional Technorati Tag

— NeoWayland

Posted: Mon - August 14, 2006 at 04:33 AM  Tag


 ◊  ◊   ◊  ◊ 

Random selections from NeoWayland's library


Pagan Vigil "Because LIBERTY demands more than just black or white"
© 2005 - 2009 All Rights Reserved