US drivers to be infra-red scanned

The Inquirer
Oct. 05, 2007

WHILE Blighty might have more CCTV cameras per head than anyone else in the world, it seems that the former colony of Virginia, now calling itself the United States of America, is going out of its way to top it in the surveillance stakes.

The latest plan is to scan all commuters in the Washington area with infra-red cameras as they approach a planned network of high-occupancy and toll lanes.

Solo drivers can buy their way around congestion, while people who share their cars will ride free. But there is a worry that people will put dummies in their cars to fool the system and make it look like they are running a car pool.

The scanning device shines an invisible infrared light on people in vehicles to zero in on real human skin.

The outfits running the scheme claim that the infra-red system can tell the difference between a human, a dummy, and a dog.

However the idea is raising privacy concerns. It would be possible for an image to be demanded by a court in a divorce case. It could also be sold to insurance companies seeking to increase rates for long-haul commuters.

More here.