Is that a Geiger counter in your pocket, or...?

Stephen Withers
Monday, 07 May 2007 04:36

Your IT - Mobility

The US government is considering the possibility of installing radiological, chemical and biological sensors into mobile phones to augment the existing network of fixed sensors.

The idea is that if a threat was detected, the phone would report the measurement and its location (determined by GPS) to the Department of Homeland Security, allowing a prompt response. Multiple notifications from the same area would increase the likelihood that the alert was genuine rather than a false alarm.

The concept is not new. Back in 2003, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's Radiation Detection Center began working on RadNet, a cell phone based radiation detector network.

The idea was that police, customs agents, firefighters, utility workers and others could carry units combining cell phone, radiation sensor, PDA, Internet access and GPS capabilities.

The new proposal extends the range of threats that could be detected. It also provides for private individuals to carry the devices, which raises privacy issues.