{"id":2834,"date":"2010-10-05T16:20:27","date_gmt":"2010-10-05T14:20:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.psyched.be\/wordpress\/?p=2834"},"modified":"2013-12-15T01:51:11","modified_gmt":"2013-12-14T23:51:11","slug":"full-body-scan-technology-in-street-roving-vans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.psyched.be\/wordpress\/video\/full-body-scan-technology-in-street-roving-vans\/","title":{"rendered":"Full-Body Scan Technology In Street-Roving Vans"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nAs the privacy controversy around full-body security scans begins to simmer, it\u2019s worth noting that courthouses and airport security checkpoints aren\u2019t the only places where backscatter x-ray vision is being deployed. <\/em><\/p>\n

The same technology, capable of seeing through clothes and walls, has also been rolling out on U.S. streets.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

American Science & Engineering, a company based in Billerica<\/em>, Massachusetts, has sold U.S. and foreign government agencies more than 500 backscatter x-ray scanners mounted in vans that can be driven past neighboring vehicles to see their contents, Joe Reiss, a vice president of marketing at the company told me in an interview. While the biggest buyer of AS&E\u2019s machines over the last seven years has been the Department of Defense operations in Afghanistan and Iraq<\/em>, Reiss says law enforcement agencies have also deployed the vans to search for vehicle-based bombs in the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis product is now the largest selling cargo and vehicle inspection system<\/em> ever,\u201d says Reiss.<\/p>\n

The Z Backscatter Vans<\/strong>, or ZBVs, as the company calls them, bounce a narrow stream of x-rays off and through nearby objects, and read which ones come back. Absorbed rays indicate dense material such as steel. Scattered rays indicate less-dense objects that can include explosives, drugs, or human bodies. That capability makes them powerful tools for security, law enforcement, and border control.<\/p>\n

It would also seem to make the vans mobile versions of the same scanning technique that\u2019s riled privacy advocates as it\u2019s been deployed in airports around the country. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) is currently suing the DHS to stop airport deployments of the backscatter scanners, which can reveal detailed images of human bodies. (Just how much detail became clear last May, when TSA employee Rolando Negrin was charged with assaulting a coworker who made jokes about the size of Negrin\u2019s genitalia after Negrin received a full-body scan.)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s no surprise that governments and vendors are very enthusiastic about [the vans],\u201d says Marc Rotenberg, executive director of EPIC. \u201cBut from a privacy perspective, it\u2019s one of the most intrusive technologies conceivable.\u201d<\/p>\n

AS&E\u2019s Reiss counters privacy critics by pointing out that the ZBV scans don\u2019t capture nearly as much detail of human bodies as their airport counterparts. The company\u2019s marketing materials say that its \u201cprimary purpose is to image vehicles and their contents,\u201d and that \u201cthe system cannot be used to identify an individual, or the race, sex or age of the person.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nThough Reiss admits that the systems \u201cto a large degree will penetrate clothing<\/em>,\u201d he points to the lack of features in images of humans like the one shown at right, far less detail than is obtained from the airport scans. \u201cFrom a privacy standpoint, I\u2019m hard-pressed to see what the concern or objection could be,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

But EPIC\u2019s Rotenberg says that the scans, like those in the airport, potentially violate the fourth amendment. \u201cWithout a warrant, the government doesn\u2019t have a right to peer beneath your clothes without probable cause,\u201d he says. Even airport scans are typically used only as a secondary security measure, he points out. \u201cIf the scans can only be used in exceptional cases in airports, the idea that they can be used routinely on city streets is a very hard argument to make.\u201d<\/p>\n

The TSA\u2019s official policy dictates that full-body scans must be viewed in a separate room from any guards dealing directly with subjects of the scans, and that the scanners won\u2019t save any images. Just what sort of safeguards might be in place for AS&E\u2019s scanning vans<\/em> isn\u2019t clear, given that the company won\u2019t reveal just which law enforcement agencies, organizations within the DHS, or foreign governments have purchased the equipment. Reiss says AS&E has customers on \u201call continents except Antarctica.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reiss adds that the vans do have the capability of storing images. \u201cSometimes customers need to save images for evidentiary reasons,\u201d he says. \u201cWe do what our customers need.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

©copyright\/\/Source::blogs.forbes.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<<Editors notE>>
\nAmerican Science & Engineering … I wonder who has got shares in that one…
\nSo privacy ey, privacy… what does it stand for again? Hmmm… Let’s have a look:<\/p>\n

\npri\u00b7vacy <\/strong>(pr\u012b\u2032v\u0259 s\u0113; Brit priv\u2032\u0259-)
\nnoun pl. privacies -\u00b7cies<\/p>\n

1. the quality or condition of being private; withdrawal from company or public view; seclusion
\n 2. secrecy<\/em>: told in strict privacy
\n 3. one’s private life or personal affairs: an invasion of one’s privacy<\/p>\n

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\<\/p>\n

pri\u00b7va\u00b7cy<\/strong> (pr\u012b\u02c8v\u0259-s\u0113)
\nnoun<\/p>\n

1.
\n a. The quality or condition of being secluded from <\/strong>the presence or view of others<\/strong>.
\n b. The state of being free from unsanctioned intrusion: a person’s right to privacy.
\n 2. The state of being concealed<\/em>; secrecy.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    \n
  • \n… Whenever I have a mars bar in my back pocket… (Mars\/war\/whatever) they WILL find it… Now if I were overly obese… I might not want to have them to see my strange Mars eating condition… : intrusion of MY privacy…<\/li>\n
  • If I was just … messing around a bit in a shed… I don’t know, maybe it involves a woman… maybe it involves a man’s hand… either way, not the moment to be caught with your pants down…<\/li>\n
  • If I were to… cut up my victims right behind the door with a spoon… I don’t want to be caught red handed… <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Just kidding folks, but think about it… do you want them to know “secret” things in YOUR life?
    \nI can start by just ranting up a list of things u don’t want to be caught with. Not necessarily doing something “illegal” yet doing something “embarrassing” your family needn’t to know about… behind closed doors.<\/p>\n

    All good though when they keep it for the “criminals”. but in an age where certain youngsters are not allowed to fly because their names ended up on some black list… We should all be really aware it could also happen to you.<\/p>\n

    Oh and it looks like a normal… van…
    \nVery secretive in this “open” society isn’t it ;)<\/p>\n

    After all… it is for “our own good”.\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    As the privacy controversy around full-body security scans begins to simmer, it\u2019s worth noting that courthouses and airport security checkpoints aren\u2019t the only places where backscatter x-ray vision is being deployed. The same technology, capable of seeing through clothes and walls, has also been rolling out on U.S. streets. American Science & Engineering, a company based in Billerica, Massachusetts, has sold U.S. and foreign government agencies more than 500 backscatter x-ray scanners mounted in vans that can be driven past neighboring vehicles to see their…<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,38,32,41,12,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-journalism","category-politics","category-psychology","category-technology","category-video","category-world"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/ph7OQR-JI","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.psyched.be\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.psyched.be\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.psyched.be\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.psyched.be\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.psyched.be\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.psyched.be\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2834\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.psyched.be\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.psyched.be\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.psyched.be\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}