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Comment by sandworm101 | Hacker News Reader

They are not hard to spot. Watch the media entrances of events, where the on-location vans drive through. Look for where traffic is routed through a single lane. Inevitably they will route traffic past an unmarked van. Or, look for an unmarked van trolling any parking lots within any security cordon.

https://encrypted.google.com/search?q=NYPD+x-ray+van&prmd=iv...

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I wonder if there is a way to render these scanning devices ineffective or shroud items from them.

I don't see why it would be a problem to scan-proof vehicles, containers, or clothing, considering that they don't have a warrant for the search in the first place. I guess lead-lining everything is pretty inconvenient, but I don't see why the pigs get to see me naked for free.

couldn't they, just out of courtesy, to [anonymously if it is such a secret program] drop me a line if they see a spot in my lungs/bones?

It takes a skilled professional to properly diagnose such things even when the right equipment is used. These vans were designed for scanning vehicles more than people, and for objects much larger than a tumor. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that they are completely unable to detect cancerous growths.

i'm not asking for professional diagnosis, just a quick BigData/Image analysis (a small plugin for the Palantir system which processes these images anyway) on an original image what this one i'd guess was significantly downscaled from:

https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/.NkPNDYF.jgT.0R6ruZMwQ--/a...

(i mean you can see the guy's balls even on that downscaled image :)

I think all these Big Brother total surveillance technologies can have huge public benefit if/when public actually gets access to it. After all it is our tax dollars that paid for it and normally we're supposed to get access to the info government procures on our dime.

> I'm not asking for professional diagnosis, just a quick BigData/Image analysis

There is a reason these kind of analyses are still done by humans, even with extremely high resolution images, with the proper contrast. Big Data is not a solution to every analysis problem.

> i mean you can see the guy's balls even on that downscaled image

And if he had testicular cancer, it would be a tiny speck on those balls. Also, compare the humans you see in that image to a picture of a simple chest X-ray. Notice how you can see barely any internal structure? This image can diagnosis that they all have two lungs, but not much else.

> even with extremely high resolution images, with the proper contrast

For people not aware, here's a £22,000 (ish)[1] medical imaging grade monitor. I've seen more expensive. The cheap ones start around £4k...

[1] http://www.nigelohara.com/barco-k9602004-pid382491.html?gcli...

So here's a question...are there any ways we can definitively detect these vans (ie. something that can detect a large source of x-rays being emitted)?

If so, are there consequences for identifying and making it known to those nearby that "this van is scanning you without your knowledge/permission?"

...and then send in a drone programmed to spray paint the van with a skull & crossbones

> If so, are there consequences for identifying and making it known to those nearby that "this van is scanning you without your knowledge/permission?

IANAL, but I would ask one before you do this unless you don't mind an obstruction of justice charge.

Yeah, for sure. Wasn't at all planning on doing this--just kind of assumed it would inevitably happen what with the prevalence of smart phones and geo-tagging capabilities.

One could imagine it being fairly trivial to create an app that broadcasts the location of these things if they can be easily detected.

This makes me wonder if I was scanned on my way through one of the many tunnels in NYC earlier this summer while I was vacationing there?

There were about 15 lanes of traffic (toll lines) converged into two lanes to enter most tunnels. If what you say is common practice for the NYPD at events, certainly they would have something setup at tunnel entrances too.

An aside: I've never seen a Google search using encrypted.google.com - very cool! Apparently it prevents the referrer/query data from getting passed along to wherever you click.

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