New Toys for Santa's Big Brother

Kids are admonished with the warning that Santa knows whether you have been naughty or nice, and Canary Wharf shoppers are being given the same message (see pic) with the aid of CCTV. Wharfer's probably don't need to be reminded that their every move is captured on the state's version of Candid Camera. But they may have missed recent news that terahertz wave scanners were to be installed at Canary Wharf Tube to deter potential suicide bombers. The Sunday Times observes that the whole security set-up at running project Nemesis, a reassuring name if ever there was one, is like something out of a Bond movie:

system’s underground control room, which is reminiscent of the bunker in Dr No, the Bond movie. It is bomb-proof and has secure radio communications to patrol officers on the ground and to Scotland Yard and other emergency services. It is designed to withstand the impact of an airliner hitting Canary Wharf Tower, and has food rations and its own supply of air and water. The room is dominated by five wall-to-wall television screens, each split into a patchwork of smaller screens that relay footage from hundreds of CCTV cameras around the site

There will inevitably be a trade off between security and civil liberties - but do the new systems make us safer - will they prevent crime or merely assist in its detection after the event. Tube users are now catalogued, monitored and tracked to an unprecedented extent: our Oyster Card data is logged and may be used by the police, CCTV cameras proliferate, we have even been tested for explosives.

The scanners add to a list of hi-tech security devices piloted at the Wharf, including explosive trace detection systems Controversy has stalked the use of Terahertz wave scanners because of the potential to see through clothing and produce a detailed body image

Some controversy surrounds the use of terahertz scanners for routine security checks due to the potential capability to produce detailed images of a subject's body through clothing. Souce Wikipedia

We're told that the scanners on use at the Wharf will not give that detailed an image. Nonetheless to be effective they must see beneath clothing even if that doesn't produce a detailed body image.

An under-reported risk from these new technologies are the way in which false positives are handled. Every new system is going to have bugs, and every security system will throw up false positives sooner or later. Should any of these new gadgets incorrectly identify someone as a suspect what happens? How will officers respond? And how will that incident be recorded - will the innocent party have his/her DNA and/or prints stored? These are issues that merit an open public debate.