A.C.L.U. Warns Against Fever-Screening Tools for Coronavirus

Airports, office buildings, warehouses and restaurant chains are rushing to install new safety measures like fever-scanning cameras and infrared temperature-sensing guns. But the American Civil Liberties Union warned on Tuesday against using the tools to screen people for possible coronavirus symptoms, saying the devices were often inaccurate, ineffective and intrusive.

In a new report, “Temperature Screening and Civil Liberties During an Epidemic,” the A.C.L.U. said that such technologies could give people a false sense of security, potentially leading them to be less vigilant about health measures like wearing masks or social distancing. The group also cautioned that the push for widespread temperature scans during the pandemic could usher in permanent new forms of surveillance and social control.

The organization’s advisory reflects a wider tension in the United States over concerns about reopening the economy at a time when the virus is still spreading undetected in various regions of country.

In particular, the report said that infrared temperature-sensing guns can be unreliable partly because they gauge skin temperature, in contrast to oral thermometers, which calculate core body temperature. The guns provide a superficial measure, the report noted, that can vary if a person is sunburned, is sweating or has just come in from outside.

Similarly, the report said that many free-standing thermal cameras, which gauge a person’s temperature at a distance, can be inaccurate, finicky and may need to be frequently recalibrated.

Even if the temperature-scanning tools were more accurate, however, the A.C.L.U. said they could miss many people who were infected with the coronavirus but not running a fever.

“Nobody should imagine that blanketing our public spaces with thermal sensors is going to serve as any kind of effective automated ‘Covid detection network,’” Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst with the A.C.L.U., wrote in the report, “or that this technology is likely to contribute significantly to stemming the spread of the virus.”

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To meet surging demand from factories, warehouses and office buildings, technology makers haven been rushing to market a range of thermal cameras as coronavirus fever-screening tools. Companies have been encouraged to do so by the Food and Drug Administration. The agency said in April that it would temporarily allow device makers to market thermal cameras, which have not been vetted by federal health regulators, for temperature checks in places like warehouses and factories.

But IPVM, an independent site that tests surveillance cameras, reported this year that numerous makers of temperature scanners had overstated their accuracy or made false claims. Among other things, the site identified systems that automatically adjusted people’s temperatures to put them in the normal range or that failed to detect high fevers. The site also found companies that were marketing heat-sensing tools designed simply to detect the presence of humans, or for fire detection, as fever-screening devices.

“A core issue is there are no independent tests of thermal camera performance,” IPVM said in a recent overview of the technology. “This has allowed manufacturers to tout products meant for body/fire detection as a fever solution, or falsely claim pinpoint accuracy at long distances.”


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  • Frequently Asked Questions and Advice

    Updated May 20, 2020

    • What are the symptoms of coronavirus?

      Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.

    • How many people have lost their jobs due to coronavirus in the U.S.?

      Over 38 million people have filed for unemployment since March. One in five who were working in February reported losing a job or being furloughed in March or the beginning of April, data from a Federal Reserve survey released on May 14 showed, and that pain was highly concentrated among low earners. Fully 39 percent of former workers living in a household earning $40,000 or less lost work, compared with 13 percent in those making more than $100,000, a Fed official said.

    • How can I protect myself while flying?

      If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)

    • Is ‘Covid toe’ a symptom of the disease?

      There is an uptick in people reporting symptoms of chilblains, which are painful red or purple lesions that typically appear in the winter on fingers or toes. The lesions are emerging as yet another symptom of infection with the new coronavirus. Chilblains are caused by inflammation in small blood vessels in reaction to cold or damp conditions, but they are usually common in the coldest winter months. Federal health officials do not include toe lesions in the list of coronavirus symptoms, but some dermatologists are pushing for a change, saying so-called Covid toe should be sufficient grounds for testing.

    • Should I wear a mask?

      The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’t replace hand washing and social distancing.

    • What should I do if I feel sick?

      If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.

    • How can I help?

      Charity Navigator, which evaluates charities using a numbers-based system, has a running list of nonprofits working in communities affected by the outbreak. You can give blood through the American Red Cross, and World Central Kitchen has stepped in to distribute meals in major cities.


In its report, the A.C.L.U. recommended that public health experts study the effectiveness of temperature-scanning technologies “to determine if the trade-offs are worth it.” Otherwise, the group said, the fever-screening systems should not be deployed.

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