The Pentagon has a device that can identify people without seeing their face
4 Likes
I think they have been since the 70s or so. It’s probably cheaper and less obvious to use a lower powered laser to locate a target, and then take care of them using more conventional means.
Heck, they could add it to a drone that also has a nice one shot gun on it.
1 Like
I’m not so savvy but I’ve come to believe that if someone can detect a signal remotely then someone can man-in-the-middle that loop.
And habeas corpus possibly just got a lot weirder.
4 Likes
As much as they need.
How much storage can you fit in your pocket?
In a backpack?
In a car, suv, or van?
In a box truck?
In a room in the building where it’s being used?
At the other end of a data link, with the comparison processing done on the other side?
We’re long past the time where physical considerations of storage size is the problem.
Why not? They already work on storing meta data (or more) of every international phone call, and maybe more.
There’s several distinct things going on on a scenario like this.
- Creating an id to go with a person.
- Comparing that id to something you’re looking for.
- Taking action based on an id match.
- Saving the id for future use or analysis.
At a specific event, I agree they’re probably only looking to take action when they id specific people they’re looking for. That also speeds up the comparison process, since it limits the data set.
But, saving everything for later, that’s trivial. There are lots of uses for later too, such as comparing multiple different collection locations to determine people that show up more than once. Or, using multiple appearances at different locations to identify someone previously not known. Someone to take action on next time.
Put one of these at an airport, or transit hub near an event, and at an event. Combine it with video correlation. Now, you’ve got video evidence of someone doing something bad at an event linked to a cardiac fingerprint AND you’ve got video evidence of someone without any disguise getting on transportation, and likely can correlate that to some type of ticket and payment method or id. Give or take how much tradecraft is used and how many locations you surveil.
Pretty much. 
6 Likes
I used to run a teaching lab with frogs where we measured the heart activity and then added drugs to see the effects. Caffeine dramatically effects the cardiac activity, which makes me think normal daily drug use would mess this up
Also, I’ve looked at plenty of EKGs and the idea that it serves as a uniquely identifying signature despite the continual changes in frequency seems dubious. That a heart signature detected remotely by laser can be uniquely identifying seems crazy
6 Likes
Likely Pentagon targets everywhere are now changing their heart-health habits.
I call Band Name!!
2 Likes
Well, there might be a way to somehow connect such a device using radio waves to bigger computers located somewhere else…my thinking is a bit cloudy, but it seems like there might just be a way of doing it
3 Likes
Lasered undesirables can’t
- suffer
- be used as leverage against their loved ones
- increase the revenues at a commercial detention facility
Is it just me, or am I deader inside than I was the other day?
1 Like
Maybe the headline should read, “The Pentagon has been sold a device that…”
8 Likes
If you’ve read Twitter at all today, then yes you are. 
2 Likes
Yeah, I would imagine a whole lot of things could screw with the results. I wonder what the parameters on this are. The military version may have been developed to track one individual over a very limited timeframe. Which means it doesn’t necessarily distinguish accurately between a great number of individuals, nor over the long-term, where any number of things might change.
I know the article mentions other uses, as a replacement for fingerprints, are being trialed, but I’m wondering as to how well that works. I can’t imagine they’ve done much testing across sufficient numbers of people and over time.
Like when all those governments got sold a “bomb detector” that was actually an empty box.
3 Likes
Covert identification is really powerful if you are concerned with more than one person. You see a masked individual run up to one known important individual and shortly after run up to another known important individual. Having a way to identify that person later when they’ve removed their mask would allow you to introduce an undercover agent to their lives in less obvious situations, like their job. That would give you access to several high profile people without arousing suspicions. Or consider a volatile protest at a base or embassy. Someone masked throws a rock. If you kill them in that moment it might ignite the crowd, but making them disappear later won’t have the same result.
I am extremely skeptical of the validity of this story. I find it hard to believe anyway that there’s enough variety in heartbeats to positively identify someone. Or that clothing (other than tight fitting tops) wouldn’t bury the signal in the mud.
It sounds more like something law enforcement would WANT you to believe they have to make you think twice about doing whatever rude thing you were planning.
3 Likes
I’m also skeptical. Just the beat to beat variations are significant. You can diagnose illness from the waveform, but identifying one out of a couple of hundred million people? I somehow doubt it.
It takes about 30 seconds to get a good return, so at present the device is only effective where the subject is sitting or standing.
I don’t think Cardiac signatures can be used anywhere the subject isn’t at rest. This is a lot of hype for a device that a thick jacket can defeat.
Spooks are going to try to scare people they know are read these stuff.
It doesn’t have to be unique when compared to every other person for it to be useful in identification if you know who it is that you’re looking for (and what their signature looks like). Even if your target is likely to match 20 million other people on Earth, the odds that the person you’re randomly looking at having the same signature as your target are still very low.
1 Like
I wear full plate armour at all times.
Mirrored plate armour.
1 Like
Sure. From when they scanned you at the last protest, or walking out of that coffee shop where all the Antifa kids hang out, etc.
1 Like
I believe that’s part of an old Avengers episode…
1 Like
