[Infowarrior] - Terror Screening: "Malfeasance Likelihood" score?

[Richard Forno]

New screening technology might detect terrorists before they act

Posted Oct 6th 2007 7:48PM by Joshua Topolsky

http://www.engadget.com/2007/10/06/new-screening-technology-might-detect-ter
rorists-before-they-act/


Computer and behavioral scientists at the University of Buffalo are
developing a system that will allow authorities to track faces, voices,
bodies and various other biometrical data to create a score for how likely
an individual is to commit a terrorist act. Sound like the scariest Big
Brother plot since China's ID card scheme? Well, rest assured, Winston
Smith, the researchers only have your best interests in mind. "The goal is
to identify the perpetrator in a security setting before he or she has the
chance to carry out the attack," says Venu Govindaraju, professor of
computer science and engineering at the university, who was recently awarded
$800,000 by the National Science Foundation to create such a system. "We are
developing a prototype that examines a video in a number of different
security settings, automatically producing a single, integrated score of
malfeasance likelihood," adding that the system will incorporate machine
"learning" capabilities, which will allow it to adapt over time. "Human
screeners have fatigue and bias, but the machine does not blink," the
researcher said, just before remarking that he was late for an appointment
at the Ministry of Truth.