台北保成 法政權威 公職巨擘

Feeling as if you are being watched? You probably are. The

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in the United States

recently began rolling out a new security program, Screening

Passengers by Observation Techniques (SPOT), at dozens of airports

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around the country. Using behavioral profiling, SPOT aims to identify

“high-risk individuals” by monitoring passengers’ body language.

Under this initiative, “behavior detection officers” are trained to

recognize involuntary gestures, subtle facial twitches, and changes in

vocal pitch that signal stress or deceit. A passenger displaying

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suspicious behavior is taken aside for additional screening.

But do such programs work? In Israel, where officers get nine

weeks of training, behavioral screening is considered effective. But

most TSA screeners receive only four days’ instruction; the idea that

they will be able to master the art of behavior recognition with such

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meager training is “preposterous.” Meanwhile, the Department of

Homeland Security just finished testing an automated version of

SPOT using a device called Cogito, which works in a manner similar

to a polygraph device. Passengers answer a set of simple questions

displayed on a touch screen while inserting one hand into a sensor

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that measures biometric responses, such as sweat levels and blood

pressure.