Drive-by X-ray vans raise privacy, health worries
DHS, the U.S. military, and even local law enforcement agencies are buying and deploying mobile X-ray vans that can see into the interior of vehicles around them; the Z Backscatter Van (ZBV), manufactured by American Science and Engineering (AS&E), can be used to detect contraband such as car bombs, drugs, and people in hiding; the van looks like a standard delivery van, and it takes less than fifteen seconds to scan passing vehicles; it can be operated remotely from more than 1,500 feet and can be equipped with optional technology to identify radioactivity as well; the vans, which can also see through clothing and into some buildings, are raising privacy concerns as well as questions about health risks — and what might happen if the technology gets into the wrong hands
Back in August we wrote: “As the privacy controversy around full-body security scans continues to grow, you should note that courthouses and airport security checkpoints are not the only places where backscatter X-ray vision is being deployed. The same technology, capable of seeing through clothes and walls, has also been rolling out on U.S. streets (“Drive-by full-body scanning,” 31 August 2010 HSNW).
Indeed, DHS, the U.S. military, and even local law enforcement agencies are buying and deploying mobile X-ray vans that can see into the interior of vehicles around them.
The Z Backscatter Van (ZBV), manufactured by American Science and Engineering (AS&E), can be used to detect contraband such as car bombs, drugs, and people in hiding.
Diane Macedo reports for Fox News that the vans, which can also see through clothing and into some buildings, are raising privacy concerns as well as questions about health risks — and what might happen if the technology gets into the wrong hands.
She has been given a rare ride-along in a ZBV at a U.S. seaport in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
Like airport scanners, the ZBVs use Z Backscatter technology to detect materials that contain low atomic numbers. This allows them to detect organic matter that doesn’t show up well in traditional X-ray images — including explosives and plastic weapons — in addition to metal and other materials.
The technology also works in such a way that the X-Ray mechanism has no need for a detector on the far side of an object, allowing it to be extremely mobile, versatile, and capable of being into a commercially available van.
Once equipped, the van — which looks like a standard delivery van — takes less than fifteen seconds to scan a vehicle; it can be operated remotely from more than 1,500 feet and can be equipped with optional technology to identify radioactivity as well.
The Z Backscatter vans range in cost from $729,000 to $825,000. DHS says they have been a huge asset at the nation’s ports and borders, and at major crowd events like the Super bowl.
“Using the ZBV vans over the past couple of years, we’ve gotten over a thousand seizures and 89,000 pounds worth of narcotics, approximately $4 million worth of currency, and we’ve also uncovered 10 or 11 undeclared aliens within vehicles,” said Patrick Simmons, Director of Non-Intrusive Inspection at Customs and Border Protection (CBP). “Again, we don’t purposely scan for
