Washington, Oct 8(ANI): A US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) document has indicated that a program predicting whether a person will commit crime depicted in the hit Hollywood film "Minority Report", has already been tested on some people after seeking their permission.
"The department's Science and Technology Directorate has conducted preliminary research in operational settings to determine the feasibility of using non-invasive physiological and behavioral sensor technology and observational techniques to detect signs of stress, which are often associated with intent to do harm," DHS' Deputy Press Secretary Peter Boogaard said.
The Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST) program comprises "prototype screening facility" which would consider factors such as ethnicity, gender, breathing, and heart rate to "detect cues indicative of mal-intent," CBS News reports
The US Government's efforts to "collect, process, or retain information on "members of the public," came to light through a DHS document obtained under open-government laws by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC).
The document also suggested that the mobile version of FAST "could be used at security checkpoints such as border crossings or at large public events such as sporting events or conventions."
It also pointed out that the next field trial of FAST will be conducted on people who "have food service experience", and are paid "to work at a one day VIP event."
"If it were deployed against the public, it would be very problematic. Relying on ambiguous biological factors to predict mal-intent is worrisome. Especially if they're going to be rolling this out at the airport," a nonprofit group, EPIC's counsel Ginger McCall said.
The DHS statement said the FAST program is voluntary, and there are currently no plans of deploying this technology. (ANI)
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