Big Brother: Contractors Plan to Scan D.C. Motorists

[noise]

"...Rather than manually policing the area, the companies owning the project have proposed using technology that would scan drivers and passengers with bursts of infrared light that detect the reflectivity of human skin.

Ken Daley, a senior vice president of one of the two companies contracted for the project, says that the technology is so advanced that it can accurately ID a human face from an animal such as a pet.

Transurban has given no word on whether the devices might also be used for "national security" or other government purposes..."

"..California and Colorado both have privately run toll roads that are currently free to carpoolers. In California, police wait behind concrete blocks ready to jet out and pull over offenders [entrapment]. In Colorado, they use a much simpler system which simply has drivers peel off into a separate lane mid-trip where they are visually checked to avoid payment.."


_http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=9155

Don't know if the article is of any use. Thought the technology side of it is what is scary. Isn't shooting people with Infrared scanners a form of dousing them with a form of radiation?

 

[rs]

Don't know if the article is of any use. Thought the technology side of it is what is scary. Isn't shooting people with Infrared scanners a form of dousing them with a form of radiation?

Well, yes, it is a form of radiation, but it is a "benign" form that we (i.e. living things) are adapted to. If you want to be bombarded with infrared radiation, open your oven door or go stand in the sun. Many "night vision" security cameras come with infrared illumination which enables them to produce an image without an obvious illumination source. Your TV remote control is infrared.