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| Biometric "Hostile Intent" Machine Under Testing at US Airport |
| 2006-08-14 |
| 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. The Israeli-developed system combines questions and biometric measurements to determine if a passenger should undergo screening by security officials. |
| Posted by:mcsegeek1 |
| #11 Measuring hostility - at airport waiting lines? Oh, yeah... |
| Posted by: mojo 2006-08-14 15:33 |
| #10 If they need to know how well any lie detector works, the Clintons are still available. |
| Posted by: wxjames 2006-08-14 15:23 |
| #9 After flight delays, no AC in the airplane, seats designed to fix 5'6" anorexic victims (not me), expensive beer...shall I go on?...Yer damn farkin' straight I have "Hostile Intent" TM. |
| Posted by: BrerRabbit 2006-08-14 13:25 |
| #8 49 Pan: Most divorced people instantly recognized the line in the movie "Return of the Living Dead": "But I don't care darling, because I love you, and you've got to let me eat your brains." |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-08-14 11:30 |
| #7 "IMAO, all this box does is give TSA some legal insulation when they start profiling for muslims. Joy." Yeah, if it stopped there. My bet is they'll inflict it on 85 year old WWII veterans in wheelchairs. |
| Posted by: mcsegeek1 2006-08-14 11:24 |
| #6 Here in Knoxville, we seem to be the one of the guinea pigs for whatever brainstorm-of-the-week the TSA loosers come up with. It looks to me like an automated polygraph station. And it is probably about as effective. IMAO, all this box does is give TSA some legal insulation when they start profiling for muslims. Joy. Oh, well. At least they are trying, in their inept way. |
| Posted by: N guard 2006-08-14 11:12 |
| #5 I hope it's not too dependent on lie-detector technology. They can be beaten pretty reliably if you have been trained how to do it. Since sociopaths (where most terrorists belong IMHO) feel little if anything when they lie, quite a few can slip by, too. But at least the ACLU is predictable in their zeal to defend a terrorist's right to get on a plane and bomb it without the indignity of racial profiling. |
| Posted by: Swamp Blondie 2006-08-14 11:11 |
| #4 I would have liked to seen the results if this had been conducted on real passengers in Knoxville. I would imagine it would be hard to score with the responses being only, a.)"None of your g**-d**n business" or b.)"Kiss my Dixie-white a$$". |
| Posted by: psychohillbilly 2006-08-14 10:49 |
| #3 This should be mandatory before marrage. They need to put and angery ex wife filter on it. There are many an ex that would never be allowed on a plane if they could read her anger and intent. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2006-08-14 10:42 |
| #2 To date, the TSA has more confidence in people than machines to detect suspicious behavior. That's because the TSA is a jobs program, not a security program. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-08-14 10:39 |
| #1 I've got a better test with much fewer false positives. Drop a quran and see who becomes hostile. |
| Posted by: ed 2006-08-14 10:35 |