New FAST System Sniffs Out Suspects (New)

Last year, New Scientist revealed that the US Department of Homeland Security is developing a system designed to detect "hostile thoughts" in people walking through border posts, airports and public places. The DHS says recent tests prove it works.

Project Hostile Intent as it was called aimed to help security staff choose who to pull over for a gently probing interview - or more. Commentators slated the idea that sensors could spot people up to no good from their pulse rate, breathing, skin temperature, or fleeting facial expressions. One likened it to the "pre-crime" units that predict criminal behaviour in the movie Minority Report. However, last week, the DHS science unit gave an update on the project, now dubbed the less-hostile-sounding Future Attribute Screening Technologies (FAST) programme. And, if DHS claims are to be believed, the research appears to be getting somewhere. At an equestrian centre in Maryland, 140 paid volunteers walked through a pair of trailers kitted out with a battery of FAST sensors, including cameras, infrared heat sensors and an eyesafe laser radar, called a Bio-Lidar, that measures pulse and breathing rate from a distance.

Some subjects were told to act shifty, be evasive, deceptive and hostile. And many were detected. "We're still very early on in this research, but it is looking very promising," says DHS science spokesman John Verrico. "We are running at about 78% accuracy on mal-intent detection, and 80% on deception." That sounds incredibly high at such an early stage in the research - but only tests on vast quantities of real people, rather than eager volunteers, will present any real test. Questions remain, however, as to how secure the system is. The machines could reveal health conditions like heart murmurs and breathing problems as well as stress levels - which would be an invasion of privacy. But Verrico says FAST has been through stringent privacy controls (pdf) and that the data is never matched to a name. It is only used to make decisions about whether to question someone, and then discarded.

The trial technology was installed in a trailer because it is planned to be easily transportable, so that FAST trucks can appear at any sports or music event as required. They look set to become as regular a sight at such events as mobile toilets and catering trucks. But is going to make a real difference? Or will bad guys learn to play the system and render it another piece of what expert Bruce Schneier dubs "security theatre". Given that the FAST approach is not much different to the long established - and long established as unreliable - polygraph, that certainly seems plausible.

www.newscientist.com...

Here is an Department of Homeland Security Visual Overview of the FAST system
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www.newscientist.com...



Cool or Scary? Personally, I think it is cool, but unnerving.

Awesome info, both in a positive sense (we can read thoughts) and a negative sense (total control).

For someone who enjoys this website so much, I suprise myself that I have not seen Minority Report. I plan to see it soon.

Still, I hope the people in charge of this project think to work out bugs and adequately train the right people to use it. I see great prospects here and I hope this project is funded well. This should be a device of fear only for real terrorists.

And we are another step closer to George Orwell's 1984.

I believe this system won't be foolproof either, the lie detector is something that some people can fool too.

I am not a paranoid person and tend to be more of the skeptic when it comes to conspiracy. But the idea of my thoughts being read as I go through the airport, the train station, etc. This is not a happy feeling. This is a government invasion of privacy. If what they say about the condition of the world today is true, then I am mad at hell at the terrorists for what they are forcing our government to subject us to.

reply to post by Grey Magic


To fool it, take mind altering drugs like anti-depressants before you pass through. They will find a way around and we will not feel any better. I am frustrated for the people who work hard to bring about this technology.

How will they ever prove it. I'm afraid this is another tactic to imprison more people.

They will not be able to use this in court. Reading negative thoughts...What?

First they have to put so much stuff under control, reading negative thoughts is the least of their problems.

Yeah great... the richest people in the world control our govrnment and all of its agencies, and we're just gunna go ahead and assume that the richest people in the world (who at the moment are in the process of consolidating our monetary system) have the peeons they own's best interests in mind?

Oh boy, you bet I'll be mad as hell when I see a DHS truck parked at my local music event. This is #ed up.

When it comes to the developers of these devices, I think their interest is in the welfare of Americans.

I am not arguing that there is conclusive proof that there is not some long and oddly drawn out conspiracy for world domination controlled by the...

... 50-foot Illuminati Zionists from the Center of the Earth!...

I am implying that the burden of proof is on the conspiracy theorist who has to argue from a position of more ignorance.
By all means, education of oneself is the key to denying that ignorance. However, using these threads as a primary source is not a good idea. You are likely only going to scare yourself not enlighten your mind. Conspiracy tends to be a difficult position because there are so many unproven or unsound claims which are often based on speculation not facts. Not going to argue anymore on that on this thread because this tread is about the FAST system.

However, I do not care if it is Uncle Sam, Aquaman, or Ackmed the Dead Terrorist. If someone screws up my hometown music festival this weekend, or your music event, I will take issue with it.

Maybe at the top, the FAST system is designed with malicious intentions. However, where the proof is, the system is made with beneficial intentions for your protection. Honestly.

So when will the madness stop...Our mighty homeland security guys already have a well known program that basically enrolls every single person at the airport as a deputized DHS officer and has them look out for any of these same exact things that this system is supposedly going to do.

So lets get this straight, so far the DHS security procedures employ all airport employees(janitors, food services, etc) to observe us. Now they are going to spy on americans thoughts as we walk thru the airport and based off said spying will be interrogated. Not too mention all the other various check points, strip searches, and the other ways they secure our airports.

Welcome to 2008

reply to post by baffledon911


Asking your opinion: If there is no conspiracy concerning 9/11 on America's part and it was simply Muslim terrorists linked to Al-Qaeda responsible, what measures should be taken to ensure American homeland security from future attacks? Should they do this? People only coming from a viewpoint of conspiracy on these topics is not a conducive means of promoting stimulating conversation. Future posts, try to at least provide your opinions, in part, from the viewpoint of no conspiracy. Or just post what you feel.

Jeez, so if you want to kill every last person you meet, that makes you a criminal? Even if you never in your life act on the desire? Are we going to start arresting people for thinking naughty thoughts? Good grief.

I know people have cut me off in traffic before, and i've wanted to take a tire iron and smack em in the face. Doesn't mean I ever have, or ever would. But believe me, the desire was there.

What a complete load of crap.

All you got to do is think happy thoughts, happy happy thoughts - A sunny day walking through a field in the country, no cares, lots of rabbits happily skipping about oblivious to the tractor towing the plough... oh why do the rabbits not notice the tractor? the tractor bearing down slowly upon their location? There you go - bunny carnage!!

Happy thoughts

And I'm over the border.

look like all the paraniod people who smoke weed will be constatly keep getting pulled

Why not just pull random people and hook em up to a lie detector test?

heck....why not back ground checks on 100% of passengers?

...thanks for the article

reply to post by newagent89


Of course this won't work!

Pure propaganda technology, basically a psych weapon.

A gold star goes to anyone who can tell me in rational terms just how such a system is going to be able to differentiate between some furtive, evasive would be bomber, and someone who:

1) Is late for his/her flight or train or whatver and is anxious.
2) Someone who is at a clandestine meeting with say an illicit lover or similar.
3) Having a bad day, argument with wife/husband.
4) Been fired from their job.
5) Marriage breakdown
6) Kids driving you bannanas.
7) Mislaid or had stolen property, wallet, phone, laptop, briefcase etc etc

The list could go on and on as i'm sure you lot could come up with loads of these examples.

So, this system cannot work as described. It would produce at least an equal number of false positives and real ones.
Or maybe that is exactly the whole idea. Use it indiscriminately, then everyone, guilty or otherwise will be subjugated by the technology. As we all know...you can't argue with a machine can you. If it SAYS your guilty, then you're guilty, right?

spikey.

IF people want to defeat the 'thought police' it is simply a matter of being sqeaky clean in a criminal sense. Well, at least not being/doing/having anything that could cause you to be regarded as a potential target, THEN regularly going to these places in large numbers and DELIBERATELY thinking about stuff that should make these things sound alarms all over the place. If enough people do this, it would make the system worse that useless.

spikey.