This isn't too scary:
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has begun field testing new technology designed to identify people who intend to commit a terrorist act.
Nature reported that the DHS has been conducting tests of Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST) in the past few months at an undisclosed location in the northeast.
The technology uses remote sensors to measure physiological properties, such as heart rate and eye movement, which can be used to infer a person's current mindset.
According to a Privacy Impact Assessment (PDF) released by the DHS in 2008, the technology is intended to measure a person's malintent -- the intent to cause harm.
And of course once the precogs FAST sensors identify all those nasty malintent bastards, we can deal with them before they actually create their mayhem. What could possibly go wrong? Because I felt a little creepy, like we were heading into "1984" and "Brave New World" territory when creation of the DHS was announced, stuff like this makes me flinch.
Comments
Leo:
...As well it should.
It's much more likely this technology would be used to thwart people from smoking, putting salt on french fries, buying SUV's, pulling in to a McDonalds, etc etc etc....