Everybody knows about black helicopters, but what about black vans?
News that that the US is buying custom-made vans packed mobile x-ray units for use at major sporting events, or possibly at random to look for bombs or contraband, has got folks worried for both their health and privacy. The debate will surely test the boundary between the government's legitimate security interest and privacy expectations Americans enjoy in their cars.
American Science & Engineering has sold more than 500 ZBVs Backscatter Vans to US and foreign governments, and while the Department of Defense has bought a majority for war zone use, US law enforcement have also deployed the vans to search for bombs inside the US (like wherever Katherine Heigl films are playing). The mobile X-ray technology works by bouncing narrow X-ray streams off an object (like a car) and then analyzes the scatter rate of the returning rays. Less dense objects seen by operators could be bodies...or bombs.
The backscatter X-ray is already part of an ongoing debate about its use in so-called full body scanners being deployed in many US airports and courthouses. Officials have said they "will not store or share the images and will use masking technology to avoid revealing details of the human body", but we've already heard that lie before.
Still, there are many active suits to stop their deployment. Proponents call it a powerful counter-terror strategy. But opponents point to the broad search-and-seizure power law enforcement has on public highways, where a search warrant is often not needed for officers to instigate a physical search.
News that that the US is buying custom-made vans packed mobile x-ray units for use at major sporting events, or possibly at random to look for bombs or contraband, has got folks worried for both their health and privacy. The debate will surely test the boundary between the government's legitimate security interest and privacy expectations Americans enjoy in their cars.
American Science & Engineering has sold more than 500 ZBVs Backscatter Vans to US and foreign governments, and while the Department of Defense has bought a majority for war zone use, US law enforcement have also deployed the vans to search for bombs inside the US (like wherever Katherine Heigl films are playing). The mobile X-ray technology works by bouncing narrow X-ray streams off an object (like a car) and then analyzes the scatter rate of the returning rays. Less dense objects seen by operators could be bodies...or bombs.
The backscatter X-ray is already part of an ongoing debate about its use in so-called full body scanners being deployed in many US airports and courthouses. Officials have said they "will not store or share the images and will use masking technology to avoid revealing details of the human body", but we've already heard that lie before.
Still, there are many active suits to stop their deployment. Proponents call it a powerful counter-terror strategy. But opponents point to the broad search-and-seizure power law enforcement has on public highways, where a search warrant is often not needed for officers to instigate a physical search.
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