Mobile X-ray vans hit US streets (http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0929/Feds-radiating-Americans-Mobile-X-ray-vans-hit-US-streets)


For many living in a terror-spooked country, it might seem like a great government innovation: Use vans equipped with mobile X-ray units to scan vehicles at major sporting events, or even randomly, for bombs or contraband.

But news that the US is buying custom-made vans packed with something called backscatter X-ray capacity has riled privacy advocates and sparked internet worries about "feds radiating Americans."

"This really trips up the creep factor because it's one of those things that you sort of intrinsically think the government shouldn't be doing," says Vermont-based privacy expert Frederick Lane, author of "American Privacy." "But, legally, the issue is the boundary between the government's legitimate security interest and privacy expectations we enjoy in our cars."

American Science & Engineering, a Billerica, Mass.-company, tells Forbes it's sold more than 500 ZBVs, or Z Backscatter Vans, to US and foreign governments. The Department of Defense has bought the most for war zone use, but US law enforcement has also deployed the vans to search for bombs inside the US, according to Joe Reiss, a company spokesman, as quoted by Forbes.

On Tuesday, a counterterror operation snarled truck traffic on I-20 near Atlanta, where Department of Homeland Security teams used mobile X-ray technology to check the contents of truck trailers. Authorities said the inspections weren't prompted by any specific threat.

What could go wrong? I guess we have no more rights under this regime.

We'll see what song they sing if a dirty bomb is detonated somewhere . Then the narrative will change to HHS being asleep at the wheel and not using technology available to prevent it.

I guess we have no more rights under this regime.It started in 2003 under Bush.

It started in 2003 under Bush.

It started long before that, there was this little incident in Waco that comes to mind. But really, does it matter? Is it OK to undermine more rights just because someone else did it first?

I'm all for using technology for national security, but where we draw the line? Other reports are saying these mobile scanners are being used to scan homes. Really? Do I no longer have any expectation of privacy anywhere?

Other reports are saying these mobile scanners are being used to scan homes

The biggest complaint I've heard so far is that people travelling on
Atlanta roads were inconvenienced .

Janet Napolitano said she was sending them to the border ;presumable to scan incoming trucks.

This technology should be deployed to all cargo incoming.

The conspiracy crowd is talking about violations of rights with no basis of evidence that it is happening.

I live in an area where the security are constantly on alert because the jihadists seem to have a fascination for wacking us. I won't lose any sleep that this technology is scanning my car as I cross the GW Bridge.

Do I no longer have any expectation of privacy anywhere?Hello Steve:

I'm not sure I heard you say ANY of this stuff when George W. Bush started to read your emails and listen to your phone calls... Besides, if you don't have anything to hide, why do you care if you're searched?? Isn't that what right wingers say?? Bwa, ha ha ha ha...

Oh, yeah, they only say that when OTHER people are being searched... When THEY'RE being searched, it pisses them off. I understand..

excon

PS> Your emails and phone calls are STILL being monitored... Are you going to say anything about that?

Hello Steve:

I'm not sure I heard you say ANY of this stuff when George W. Bush started to read your emails and listen to your phone calls.... Besides, if you don't have anything to hide, why do you care if you're searched????? Isn't that what right wingers say???? Bwa, ha ha ha ha...

Oh, yeah, they only say that when OTHER people are being searched.... When THEY'RE being searched, it pisses them off. I understand..

excon

PS> Your emails and phone calls are STILL being monitored... Are you gonna say anything about that?



I think you mean since Clinton started it. And yes I complained at that time too. But what bothers me about this proposal here is that it goes beyond the search and into the rhelm of actually causing damage. Everyone should in practice limit their exposure to x-ray and other infared frequencies for the sake of their health. That is what goes beyond the basic principle of it all to me.

It was actually happening just a few miles from my house.

In a issue similar to this, they developed a machine that could use heat sensor to see people in buildings and other objects. The police started using them and had to stop due to law suits over search without warrant of the inside of the buildings.

I am expecting the same to happen with this

Scan incoming cargo? Fantastic. Scan trucks crossing the border? Great idea. Am I losing sleep? Not yet... but, I do have issues with randomly x-raying vehicles without cause.

I expect to be screened at an airport, a major sporting event, a theme park or at the border, and I get that there is little expectation of privacy on our public roads. But, I object to being randomly subjected to x-rays going about my daily routine for both privacy and health issues.

I just went through a lung cancer scare this year and I've been subjected to enough radiation for a while without my government doing so without my permission, and my home is my castle. What travels out of it through cyberspace I understand is vulnerable from all sides, but what stays in my house is my business.

I just went through a lung cancer scare this yearHello again, Steve:

You can't catch anything deadly. You're too mean... ;)

excon

PS> So, put down those ciggies and start smoking pot!

Besides the x-ray machines, they also had radiation detectors

Hello again, Steve:

You can't catch anything deadly. You're too mean... ;)

I've had some close calls this year, so maybe you're right. ;)


PS> So, put down those ciggies and start smoking pot!

I quit on January 24 after a pack a day for about 35 years, how do you think I stayed off pot so long?