New camera detects objects under clothes

Everyone's excited about the new British camera that can image objects hidden under clothes. The T5000 camera, created by ThruVision, uses "passive imaging technology" to identify objects by the natural electromagnetic rays they emit, Reuters says.

It can detect images up to 80 feet away, even when people are moving. It doesn't reveal body parts, just hidden objects.

ThruVision’s passive imaging technology stems from a collaborative European Space Agency (ESA) project which was based on original research carried out over many years by UK astronomers, including those at the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory to study dying stars. The T5000 operates in the terahertz region of the electromagnetic spectrum – frequently this region of the spectrum is referred to with terms such as Terahertz rays, or T-rays. T-rays are a form of low level energy naturally emitted from all materials, including rocks, plants, animals and people. They can pass through smoke, clouds and many solid materials like clothing, and in some cases, even walls. The T5000 passively collects these naturally occurring T-rays and processes them to form images that reveal concealed objects hidden under a person’s clothing without displaying physical body detail and without subjecting them to any of the harmful radiation associated with traditional X-ray security screening.

Obviously, the British Government is a good bit less concerned with privacy than the U.S. Supreme Court. But it seems clear to me that such a technology is over the line in terms of privacy. While it's generally true that you have no "reasonable expectation of privacy" in public, the Supreme Court has also held that using thermal imaging devices against a home is an invasion of privacy. I have no idea what the current Court would hold if there were a case brought on a T5000-based conviction, but I personally think law enforcement should not be allowed to use it.