At 09:08 AM 5/7/03 -0500, Harmon Seaver wrote:

An article on BBC mentions how little iris scanning has actually been tested, and that China, for instance, is refusing to use it because of possible dangers, or at least, perceived dangers. Which has me wondering, could there be actual dangers from iris scanning, say a malfunctioning laser damaging the eye?

Very interesting question. I wonder if the engineers who make the things consider a transient that blows the diode, and fries your fovea too. I'd like to see the technical argument that it "can't happen". 99.999 % still means a few cyclops a year. The laypeoples' (albeit largely irrational) fear of ionizing radiation keeps some domestic body-scans from happening (though not at the borders). There might be more serious cause for concern from lasers in eyes. A few stray lawsuits could obtain free publicity. Maybe from folks taking meds that make them photosensitive, folks with macular degeneration, or just plain HAARP-makes-me-crazy folks. Good question.