The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (the agency that provides, among other things, airport security) has reportedly bought 12 devices from a UK company called Qinetiq that enable security people to SEE CONCEALED WEAPONS, even in crowds of people walking fast. The gadgets, called SPO threat detection system units, work by tossing very high-frequency waves at a crowd, then using special lenses and detectors to read the reflected radiation. The result is that concealed objects, such as guns, knives, bombs and iPhones show up as blurry on-screen images. Although it would be used like the X-Ray machine in the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, "Total Recall," the images won't be as sharp -- nor will people be shown as walking skeletons, unfortunately.
I think this is all completely overblown. I really can't see how something like this is going to be practical for street use. Train stations, stadiums, etc., seems like a reasonable application, in my view. The comment about radiation is scare tactics. You're exposed to radiation 24 hours a day. The computer screen you're looking at emits radiation. The sun emits radiation. It occurs naturally, and as a by-product of things such as vehicle emissions and food processing. If you smoke a pack a day, you're exposing your body to upwards of 30x's the radiation of a normal person in the course of a year.
Like phone taps, profiling and ozens of other situations there have to be reasonable checks and balances. the challenge of course will be defining "reasonable" and establishing the appropriate oversight. The DEVIL is in the details.
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