At the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection hearing last week, the focus was on “An Assessment of Checkpoint Security:
Are Our Airports Keeping Passengers Safe?”
We all know the foregone conclusion, “Yes, of course security is keeping us safe.” However, future developments provided a fascinating look at the evolving security checkpoint system of the future by a series of experts from Homeland Security, detections system executives, GAO inspectors, airline representatives and others.
Get ready for more automation (i.e. robots) at the checkpoint and more background analysis of passengers before they even arrive at the airports.
Robots will eliminate the violation of dignity when passengers are stripped naked by whole-body scanners and replace a “human element” with a dispassionate machine to screen for weapons and explosives.
Robin Kane, Assistant Administrator, Operational Process and Technology, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) spoke directly to his organization’s exploration of more “auto-detection capabilities.” In other words, TSA is looking at robots to replace officers during the screening process.
Of course, there will be TSA personnel sprinkled through the process, but the initial pass through security will be handled by robots. Passengers singled out for further screening would then be handled by transportation security officers.
TSA continues to explore additional privacy protections through automated threat detection, which would transmit images only when an alarm is triggered. In collaboration with DHS S&T, the security technology industry, and our international partners, software development is currently underway and will be followed by testing to ensure effective detection with minimal false alarms.
These experiments with robotic detection are also factored into the expansion of TSA into the realm of other areas of public mass transportation and the protection of public venues.
…next-generation fully automated checkpoints for detecting weapons and explosives on individuals for aviation, mass transit, large public venues or other potentially high-risk buildings;…
Also testifying at the House hearing were Homeland Security’s top science and technology honchos, Brad Buswell, Deputy Under Secretary, Science and Technology Directorate, and Dr. Susan Hallowell, Director, Transportation Security Lab, Science and Technology Directorate.
There testimony also indicated that the Department of Homeland Security, in conjunction with the National Labs, is working on modernizing the screening process at airports. They mentioned two programs involving robotic elements.
• Automated imaging systems to screen for weapons, conventional explosives, and homemade explosives (HME) in carry-on bags;
• A next generation fully automated checkpoint for detecting weapons and explosives on people for aviation, mass transit, public gathering venues, or other potentially high-risk buildings
Executives from other scanning companies proposing new less intrusive screening methods, passive millimeter wave technology, detailed efforts to have Homeland Security purchase similar scanning systems to those used in many major retailers.
These systems are installed behind sheet rock and are not even evident to passengers passing through the systems. However, using reflection of body heat rather than radiation, the scanning systems will clearly show if a passenger is concealing something.
Again, should one of the machines alert on an individual, TSA officers will be present to move the individuals through a more intensive search.
Get ready for more hidden surveillance at airports, mass transit staging areas, public spaces and high-value locations. Video already reveals passengers identities and movements, now millimeter wave technology is allowing the robotic watchers to peer beneath our clothing.
Pingback: Watch out Granny! Robotic Enhanced Pat Downs Are Coming… | Robot Rabbi