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DHS Goes Ahead With 'Pre-Crime' Detection Project

Posted by Soulskill on from the somebody-warn-tom-cruise dept.

suraj.sun tips news that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has begun testing its project to predict future crimes on members of the public. The Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST) project is "designed to track and monitor, among other inputs, body movements, voice pitch changes, prosody changes (alterations in the rhythm and intonation of speech), eye movements, body heat changes, and breathing patterns." A field test was performed at a large venue earlier this year, and documents recently obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request indicate that testing is proceeding on other members of the public as well. "It's not clear whether these people were informed that they're participating in a FAST study."

3 of 438 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Wow. by GameboyRMH · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In the future this will be looked back on as being as stupid as McCarthyism. Looking for terrorists under every bed and around every corner, monitoring people's bodies for signs of terrorist intent...the terrorists have won beyond their wildest dreams. And if we examine Pearl Harbor as precedent, none of us will live to see the damage undone.

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  2. My 99.9% accurate crime predictor by SirGarlon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I have a crime predictor that boasts better than 99.9% accuracy. It always returns "not a criminal."

    Seriously, in order for utterly dystopian concept to have any benefits, you'd need a false alarm rate much lower than 0.1%. Even at .01%, for anti-terrorism applications the ratio of false alarms to actual terrorists would be something like 10,000 to 1 -- assuming it had a 100% detection accuracy, which is of course preposterous.

    --
    [Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
  3. Re:Wow. by Tsingi · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What is interesting is that the U.S. can't afford teachers to educate their children, or health care to heal the sick, but it can spend money on pie in the sky security stuff.

    Gotta protect ourselves from the people at any cost.
    Why?
    Because we are shitting on them in a big way and they're getting riled.