When it comes to protecting civil liberties, it just keeps getting worse. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is now testing what it calls Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST). It is purportedly designed to identify people who intend to commit a terrorist act.
It has been compared to the 'pre-crime' technology used in the movie Minority Report. Without touching you, the technology detects physiological properties to judge a person's state of mind and malicious intent. In other words, anywhere you walk, the technology could be reading your physiology and making judgments as to whether or not you should be questioned and/or arrested. According to one source, the DHS claims the technology is accurate 70% of the time and "the other 30 percent will probably get out of Guantanamo Bay in a couple of years."
Is nothing sacred anymore when it comes to civil liberties? When will you say "enough is enough?" Do you think this technology makes us safer? Does it even matter if the technology works or not - should this kind of technology even be in use? Is the idea of "innocent until proven guilty" not even considered by governments anymore? Is that which keeps us safe also keeping us free?
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.
DISCUSS!
Original posting by Braincrave Second Life staff on Jun 2, 2011 at http://www.braincrave.com/viewblog.php?id=569
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