- Tiny cameras the size of a fingernail linked to specialist
computers are to be used to monitor the behaviour of airline passengers
as part of the war on terrorism.
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- Cameras fitted to seat-backs will record every twitch,
blink, facial expression or suspicious movement before sending the data
to onboard software which will check it against individual passenger profiles.
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- Scientists from Britain and Germany are spending GBP25million
developing a system which they hope will make it virtually impossible to
hijack an airliner by providing pilots and cabin crew with an early warning
of a possible terrorist attack such as 9/11.
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- They say that rapid eye movements, blinking excessively,
licking lips or ways of stroking hair or ears are classic symptoms of somebody
trying to conceal something.
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- A separate microphone will hear and record even whispered
remarks. Islamic suicide bombers are known to whisper texts from the Koran
in the moments before they explode bombs.
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- The software being developed by the scientists will be
so sophisticated that it will be able to take account of nervous flyers
or people with a natural twitch, helping to ensure there are no false alarms.
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- "We're trying to develop technologies that indicate
the differences between normal passengers and those who may be a threat
to others, or themselves," said Catherine Neary of BAE Systems.
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- Mrs Neary, team leader of the Onboard Threat Detection
System for the Paris-based Security Of Aircraft In The Future European
Environment (SAFEE) project, added: "Blink rates come from lie-detection
research and suggest the stress level is higher than normal."
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- The project is also developing automated flight controls
that will prevent a hijacker taking over an airliner and sensors at the
aircraft's doors to detect if someone is carrying explosives or chemicals.
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- Mrs Neary said that under the Data Protection Act, all
video, audio and other recordings would be destroyed at the end of every
flight so that passengers' civil liberties were not infringed.
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- Shami Chakrabarti, director of the human rights group
Liberty, said: "Watching people constantly on aircraft and trying
to work out patterns of behaviour is a difficult road to travel.
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- "I suspect that it will put people off flying because
they will feel uncomfortable if their every blink and twitch is being monitored."
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- Airlines gave the scheme a cautious welcome, indicating
it would be too expensive to fit on existing commercial aircraft and that
it would probably be ten years before such systems were fitted to new planes.
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- A British Airways spokeswoman said: "While we welcome
new research and development which advances aviation security, we believe
the emphasis and funding for any new initiatives would be better placed
on preventing terrorists boarding aircraft in the first place.
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- "For example, research and development of better
screening and detection equipment on the ground would be of more value
at this time.
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