The Transport Security Administration says its techies have failed to create software that would allow passengers to appears less naked when going through scanners, so it is removing the devices. [Read more]
CNET News
Tag Archives: scanners
TSA, bored of seeing you naked, removing airport body scanners
Posted by Gsurface
on January 19, 2013
No comments
Apple targets fingerprint scanners with incoming AuthenTec purchase
Posted by Gsurface
on August 16, 2012
No comments
It would appear that Apple is really, really interested in implementing fingerprint sensor technology with its devices. Last month, Apple announced that it had agreed to buy AuthenTec for $ 356 million, and today we’re getting a better idea of the events leading up to this purchase. According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange
UPS mid-way in deploying wearable image scanners for faster package sorting
Posted by Gsurface
on August 3, 2012
No comments
UPS workers are taking advantage of new wearable scanning technology that speeds up package loading and quickly transmits online tracking data to customers.
Computerworld News
The DHS’s Latest Investment: Terahertz Laser Scanners
Posted by Gsurface
on July 11, 2012
No comments
MrSeb writes “It seems like every time I set foot in an airport, there is some new machine I need to stand in, walk through, or put my shoes on. The argument can be made that much of this is security theater — an effort to just make things look safe. However, if a new kind of laser-based molecular scanner lives up to its promise and finds its way into airports as planned, it could actually make a difference. A company called Genia Photonics has developed a programmable picosecond laser that is capable of spotting trace amounts of a variety of substances. Genia claims that the system can detect explosives, chemical agents, and hazardous biological substances at up to 50 meters. This device relies on classic spectroscopy; just a very advanced form of it. In the case of Genia’s scanner, it is using far-infrared radiation in the terahertz band. This is why the US Department of Homeland Security is so keen on getting it into airports. Understandably, some are calling foul on the possible privacy concerns, but this technology is halfway to a Star Trek tricorder.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
DEA Wants To Install License Plate Scanners and Retain Data for Two Years
Posted by Gsurface
on May 22, 2012
No comments
An anonymous reader writes with news that might make privacy advocates a bit uneasy. From the article: “Everyone driving on Interstate 15 in southwest Utah may soon have their license plate scanned by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The DEA and two sheriffs are asking permission to install stationary license plate scanners on the freeway in Beaver and Washington counties. The primary purpose would be to catch or build cases against drug traffickers, but at a Utah Legislature committee meeting Wednesday, the sheriffs and a DEA representative described how the scanners also could be used to catch kidnappers and violent criminals. That, however, wasn’t the concern of skeptical legislators on the Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Interim Committee. They were worried about the DEA storing the data for two years and who would be able to access it.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Homeland Security: New Body Scanners Have Issues
Posted by Gsurface
on May 9, 2012
No comments
Fluffeh writes “Although the DHS has spent around $ 90 million upgrading magnetometers to the new body scanners, federal investigators ‘identified vulnerabilities in the screening process’ at domestic airports using the new machines, according to a classified internal Department of Homeland Security report. Exactly how bad the body scanners are is not being divulged publicly, but the Inspector General’s report (PDF) made eight separate recommendations on how to improve screening. To quiet privacy concerns, the authorities are also spending $ 7 million to ‘remove the human factor from the image review process’ and replace the passenger’s image with an avatar.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Blogger shows world how to sneak anything past TSA’s nude body scanners
Posted by Gsurface
on March 9, 2012
No comments
Some people argued that the United States Transportation Security Administration’s nude scanners were an invasion of privacy while others were concerned with radiation emitted by the machines. Now, however, it appears as though past arguments pale in comparison to recent information brought to light by scientist and blogger Jonathan Corbett.
The Ineffectiveness of TSA Body Scanners
Posted by Gsurface
on March 7, 2012
No comments
TheNextCorner points out a video that lays bare a glaring flaw in the TSA body scanners used in airports to detect weapons and explosives. In such scans, citizens are depicted in light colors, while metallic objects show as very dark. The problem comes when you consider that the images are taken with a dark background. From the transcript:
“Yes that’s right, if you have a metallic object on your side, it will be the same color as the background and therefore completely invisible to both visual and automated inspection. It can’t possibly be that easy to beat the TSA’s billion dollar fleet of nude body scanners, right? The TSA can’t be that stupid, can they? Unfortunately, they can, and they are. To put it to the test, I bought a sewing kit from the dollar store, broke out my 8th grade home ec skills, and sewed a pocket directly on the side of a shirt. Then I took a random metallic object, in this case a heavy metal carrying case that would easily alarm any of the “old” metal detectors, and walked through a backscatter x-ray at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. On video, of course. While I’m not about to win any videography awards for my hidden camera footage, you can watch as I walk through the security line with the metal object in my new side pocket.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
DHS X-ray Car Scanners Now At Border Crossings
Posted by Gsurface
on January 15, 2012
No comments
OverTheGeicoE writes “CNET has a story on DHS’ whole car X-ray scanners and their potential cancer risks. The story focuses on the Z Portal scanner, which appears to be a stationary version of the older Z Backscatter Vans. The story provides interesting pictures of the device and the images it produces, but it also raises important questions about the devices’ cancer risks. The average energy of the X-ray beam used is three times that used in a CT scan, which could be big trouble for vehicle passengers and drivers should a vehicle stop in mid-scan. Some studies show the risk for cancer from CT scans can be quite high. Worse still, the DHS estimates of the Z Portal’s radiation dosage are likely to be several orders of magnitude too low. ‘Society will pay a huge price in cancer because of this,’ according to one scientist.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
DHS’ X-ray scanners could be cancer risk to border crossers
Posted by Gsurface
on January 12, 2012
No comments
Homeland Security is deploying X-ray scanners to inspect interior of vehicles crossing the border, according to documents obtained by a privacy group, raising new concerns about cancer and privacy risks.
CNET News
Recent Comments