Which Travelers Have 'Hostile Intent'? Biometric Device May Have the Answe

[RamboLiberal]

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB115551793796934752-2hgveyRtDDtssKozVPmg6RAAa_w_20070813.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top

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.

Neither the TSA nor Suspect Detection Systems Ltd., the Israeli company, will discuss the Knoxville trial, whose primary goal was to uncover the designated bad guys, not to identify threats among real travelers. They won't even say what questions were asked of travelers, though the system is generally designed to measure physical responses to hot-button questions like "Are you planning to immigrate illegally?" or "Are you smuggling drugs."


The Israeli-developed system combines questions and biometric measurements to determine if a passenger should undergo screening by security officials.

[hlthe2b]

1. I predict this will only work for the amateurs and the

unindoctrinated...

I can not imagine it would work for the seriously committed suicide bomber indoctrinated to his/her cause.

[merwin]

2. Sorry, I refuse to take a lie detector test to board a plane.

[Daphne08]

5. I agree. I've just about decided to never fly again anyway! n/t

[wtmusic]

3. Ha -- good one

These things have been around for years, and every time have proved miserable failures.

Maybe this one measures skin color to determine hostile intent (just a matter of time).

[leesa]

4. If I were hooked up to that on a bad day, I'd be at Gitmo for sure.

So would many air travelers. This is just way overkill for such a small risk. Can't we just learn to treat people decently so we don't need to worry about terrorists wanting to kill us?

[pitohui]

6. it may or it may not have the answer

it was a few years ago now but the biometric device that identified a chinese girl as myself (i am not chinese nor quite young enough to be a girl) still gets a chuckle out of me ea. time i think about it

these boondoggles are to make money for the inventors

[noamnety]

7. let's shove Bush in one

to check out his hostile intent.

[Withywindle]

8. But if it just measures physical responses...

...wouldn't get tripped by, say, someone who's phobic about flying? Or has had to wait in long lines, got stuck in traffic, had luggage lost, just had a big fight with the spouse, etc.?

[pitohui]

9. biometric is a nonsense word

it's to sell dubious technology to gullible gov't officials

[Hekate]

13. This kind of nonsense makes me feel rather hostile on a good day

It's getting harder to fly. The sheer idiocy of what the airlines and TSA are putting us through -- while NOT INSPECTING THE CARGO -- has me fuming. The very real threats of harassment and arrest make it impossible for me to say what I really think.

Last year I made the "mistake" of flying on an emergency basis when my mother had heart surgery -- my ticket was flagged as last minute one way, so the contents of my luggage got spread all over the place while uniformed personnel said things like "What's this?!" about my non-Christian spiritual books. I was so wrought up about the family emergency combined with this asininity that I burst into tears while being frisked, which then had the TSA personnel asking me what was wrong. I'd already told them about my mother's illness being why my ticket was bought at the last minute, and I seriously doubt they would have been sympathetic had I told them that "what was wrong" was the destruction of my country by flaming *holes.

I can hardly wait to be subjected to machinery that will "objectively" read my stress levels. Mom's health has continued to deteriorate. I've recently checked into taking a train, but it turns out to be a two-day trip. I am stuck with flying the friendly skies when she takes a turn for the worse.

Hekate
:argh:

[Withywindle]

17. Oh, that's just WRONG.

Nobody should be put through that. I'm so sorry you had to endure something like that. Seems they forgot a long time, these are human beings they're herding through the cattle chutes.

Best wishes for your mom.

[Richard Steele]

10. OK, even if this nonsense ever really works (it never does)...

...it's only gonna catch CRIMINALS; people who think they
are doing something WRONG and FEAR being caught doing it.

But a SUICIDE BOMBER? Totally different heads- totally.

Think about it: This is a person who not only believes in GOD,
they believe that they are going to be WITH God in an hour or two.
And they believe he's going to be VERY pleased to meet them.

They believe this SO STRONGLY that they are able to overcome
the most POWERFUL, PRIMAL urge of all: The survival instinct.
They believe it more strongly than I believe water is wet.

IMHO, a person in that state of mind is very likely to be
just about the most flat-line TRANQUIL sonofabitch on the planet.

[TheMadMonk]

18. I have this idea that studies have already shown this.

People who have come to terms with their imminent death aren't concerned with lesser matters, and that's just about everything else.

However, I suspect there could be a way to use this in a advisory way, by subliminally flashing images that should elicit strong emotional responses in the subject. There would have to be a fair number of images, covering a wide range of subjects. And there would have to be some sort of safeguard that makes it impossible to determine which images did or did not elicit a response. The only infomation that should come out of such a device is a calculated score.

Unlike standard polygraph tests, this method should be virtually impossible to manipulate, since the subject niether knows when they should react, nor what that reaction should be at any given time.

[Porcupine]

11. It's all hooked up to a light meter....

that checks the skin tone of the traveler. Anyone less that lily white is tagged as a "possible terrorist." This B.S. makes about as much sense as the e-meter the scientologists use.

[acmavm]

12. Reminds me of those meters that were supposed to be able to judge

stress so police/investigators could tell if someone was guilty of something.

The machine turned out to be worthless after authorities in police departments and corporations used it for years. The inventor had to admit it was worthless junk. But in the meantime, how many people got screwed by this miracle in mechanical engineering?

People are so easy to manipulate and so ready to believe anything.

[HuffleClaw]

14. what utter and complete bullshit

but i guess some company is making a LOT of money with this snake oil scheme.

[FloridaPat]

15. I remember all those times flights were canceled, delays made me

miss my final plane, and all those lies by the airline companies as to what the delays were. I would definately be targeted here if I had to wait in line for 4 hours to get rerouted via some other plane.

[mtnester]

16. The new profession - traveling lawyers

just wondering how much specialized lawyers will charge you for:

a. on the spot legal advice in an airport

b. To travel with their clients

sigh.