Thursday, September 25, 2008

Minority Report come to life?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,426485,00.html

Please read the article and see if you can point out the massive flaws in testing.

"MALINTENT, the brainchild of the cutting-edge Human Factors division in Homeland Security's directorate for Science and Technology, searches your body for non-verbal cues that predict whether you mean harm to your fellow passengers."

"If you're rushed or stressed, you may send out signals of anxiety, but FAST isn't fooled. It's already good enough to tell the difference between a harried traveler and a terrorist. Even if you sweat heavily by nature, FAST won't mistake you for a baddie."

"While the 144 test subjects thought they were merely passing through an entrance way, they actually passed through a series of sensors that screened them for bad intentions.
Homeland Security also selected a group of 23 attendees to be civilian "accomplices" in their test. They were each given a "disruptive device" to carry through the portal — and, unlike the other attendees, were conscious that they were on a mission.""

"While FAST's batting average is classified, Undersecretary for Science and Technology Adm. Jay Cohen declared the experiment a "home run.""

So, it can tell whether or not you are stressed or mean actual harm. So why did they declare it a success on people WHO DID NOT MEAN ACTUAL HARM?!

No I get it, it's difficult to find a test on those who mean harm. But wait, aren't there prisons in every state in the union? Violence happens there all the time, they can run the machine and correlate with violent incidents following the testing.

It doesn't just take engineers to build a machine like this, it takes psychiatrists to determine if your testing has any validity. Maybe they did, I don't know, but if I can spot such a clear flaw, I hate to think what actual terrorists might think.