New airport security scanner can read your mind

September 24, 11:30 AMBusiness ExaminerDarrell Proctor

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A new airport security scanner currently being tested could end the ban on liquids and perhaps speed up that TSA line.

It can also read your mind.

Its inventors call the device MALINTENT. It's being developed for the Dept. of Homeland Security, and while the TSA says it has no association with the device and adds there are "no plans to deploy these experimental programs to U.S. airports at this time," it may be just a matter of time before it's put into use.

The MALINTENT uses high-tech sensors to determine body temperature, heart rate and respiration. Its developers say it's programmed to spot the difference between someone who is simply stressed in the security line (many folks), and someone who's a potential terrorist.

It's all very sci-fi - and it's already got some privacy advocates crying foul, because it notes a person's vital signs for non-medical reasons, among other things. The system is part of the Human Factors division of Homeland Security and part of a mobile lab called FAST - Future Attribute Screening Technology.

Based on the body temp, heart and respiration sensors, security personnel could pull someone out of line to perform a second scan, called micro-facial scanning. That test can "read" small movements in a person's face that could give more indications of potential criminal conduct. It can recognize as many as "seven primary emotions and emotional clues."

The developers say MALINTENT could soon analyze entire body movement, and include an eye scanner and even a pheromone-reader.

MALINTENT's project leader, Bob Burns, told Fox News: "If you focus on looking at the person, you don't have to worry about detecting the device itself. It does not predict who you are and make a judgment, it only provides an assessment in situations." It does that by analyzing each individual "reactions and variations" against baseline statistics as a person approaches and then walks through the security portal.

Burns addressed security concerns by saying any data "is dumped. The information is not maintained. It doesn't track who you are."

Privacy advocates may not be so easily convinced, especially since there's talk the MALINTENT could eventually be used in shopping malls and sports venues.