Prototype EU Airplane Spy Cams Watch For Facecrime

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "You can't make stuff like this up. The EU is actually testing a prototype system of cameras in airplanes to monitor passengers' facial expressions in order to detect both terrorism and 'air rage.' The Security of Aircraft in the Future European Environment (SAFEE) project used an Airbus A380 fuselage with six wide-angle cameras to watch for people running or loitering near the cockpit door, as well as a camera in the back of every seat to watch for facecrime like sweating too much, or acting nervous. But that's okay, because the system won't alert anyone until it sees a 'combination of signs,' instead of just one stray expression, or they might accidentally catch a lot of people who are afraid of flying or of being watched."

Re:Two questions

[SBrach]

Actually I think .01% is a bit low. .01% would be 250 flights worldwide. After 9/11 the Air Marshall program was expanded to around 6,000 full-time agents. Before 9/11 there were less than 100. They should use the money for these useless programs to increase this number further. I'm confident an Air Marshall can defend a plane much better than a web cam in every seat, they have the most rigourous marksmanship qual. of any federal agency, and if they do their job right the passangers don't know they are on-board.

Re:Simple to beat..

[mazarin5]

That would be Improv Everywhere [improveverywhere.com]

Re:Right,

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

This is not about catching the followers of Emmanuel Goldstein. The ROI is very poor. No one is spending this money to make YOU safer - but rather to make you more CONTROLLED.

The telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously. Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it, moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as heard. There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork. It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time. But at any rate they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to. You had to live -- did live, from habit that became instinct -- in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized.
-- From 1984, by George Orwell.

Re:Right,

[Eli Gottlieb]

Arabic is a mostly-gendered language. The word used for the virgins is feminine.

Re:How these security cams will actually be used

[denttford]

Maybe they'll tell security? [news.com.au]