Passenger Emotions Under Scrutiny

At a handful of major airports across the United States, the Transportation Security Administration has been using a new program that focuses on stopping potential dangerous individuals rather than potentially dangerous cargo.

The technique doesn’t rely on racial profiling, but rather the universals of human behavior–facial expressions, perspiration, ticks and fidgeting–that give away fear, nervousness, and potential hostile intent.

The program is based on techniques that Mossad and the nice folks at El Al have used for years to determine who might be planning some dastardly deed. But the TSA version has been criticized by the Israeli innovators who came up with the original techniques because of modifications that put the focus more on what the agent observes initially and less on the follow-up interview with passengers that have been singled out.

A more long-term (and pricey) solution is to use an Israeli-manufactured device that uses a series of questions and biofeedback sensors to determine who should be brought aside for further screening.

It’s possible in a few years that in addition to having your bags x-rayed, and your body metal-detected and “puffed” for explosives, you will also have to sit in a small chamber and have your blood pressure monitored while a machine asks you whether you want to blow up an airplane.

Still, I think it’s better to be annoyed by security screenings than attacked by terrorists.