Homeland Security Wants Cellphones to Sniff for Bio Agents

Your cellphone can already tell you where to find the nearest Starbucks or the most convenient subway station. But it might soon be smart enough to alert you to a toxic threat during your morning commute or coffee break, thanks to a new plan from the Department of Homeland Security. The last time we heard about cellphones and terrorism, it was an appeal from the NYPD to shut off cell communication during an attack. Now, Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate want to use cellphones to detect the very threats that might be coordinated using wireless chit-chat.

Their new program, called Cell-All, would embed inexpensive, chemical-sniffing microchips into cellular telephones. If a dangerous level of air-based toxin is detected, the phone would issue a warning ring (or vibration) to alert the owner and send a message to a centralized military monitoring station. And, since the vast majority of Americans carry cellphones wherever they go, the program would use aggregated reports of toxin detection within a small area. If hundreds of cellphones in one location start flooding the alert system, the military knows they’ve got a serious threat to contend with. Detection, transmission and analysis would take around 60 seconds, according to a press release from the Directorate.

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Cellphone Curbs May Not Decrease Car Crashes

Laws that forbid motorists from using hand-held phones or texting while driving don't appear to result in a significant decrease in vehicle crashes, according to a new study by the Highway Loss Data Institute expected to be released Friday. The study, expected to be released at a conference in Washington, D.C., Friday, comes amid stepped-up efforts by federal highway-safety regulators to ban texting while driving and curb other forms of driver distraction. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood earlier this week announced rules to forbid commercial truck and bus drivers from text messaging while driving. Mr. LaHood has said he would ban all texting while driving if he could.

The Transportation Department in a statement Friday criticized the HLDI findings, saying "it is irresponsible to suggest that laws banning cell phone use while driving have zero effect on the number of crashes on our nation's roadways. A University of Utah study shows that using a cell phone while driving can be just as dangerous and deadly as driving drunk. We know that by enacting and enforcing tough laws, states have reduced the number of crashes leading to injuries and fatalities."

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Research suggests that the conversation itself is the factor responsible for driving impairment

New Zealand Transport Minister Steven Joyce was reported recently as commenting that a ban on text messaging while driving is "an absolute no-brainer". We agree. There is overwhelming evidence that both reading and sending text messages while driving is highly dangerous. Furthermore, survey research carried out at the University of Auckland indicates that this behaviour is extremely widespread in New Zealand.

We also welcome the announced ban on using hand-held cellphones while driving. However, we are most concerned that using hands-free phones while driving will be exempt from this ban. The problem with this course of action is that a large body of research evidence has shown that conversing on a hands-free phone while driving is just as risky as talking on a hand-held.

The effects of cellphone use on driving performance and crash risk have been examined in more than 30 scientific studies. The findings have been clear: talking on a cellphone impairs driving, and similar impairments are seen with hands-free and hand-held phones.

We are aware that this conclusion is surprising. Research suggests that the conversation itself is the factor responsible for driving impairment - rather than the physical demand of holding and manipulating the phone.

“Experts: Hands-free phones just as risky as hand-held”, NZ Herald, 8/18/09.

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