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Millions spent to develop cameras
By Brian DeBose
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Government agencies have spent more than $50 million during the past five years
developing camera surveillance technology, and proposed federal spending on such
systems has increased since September 11, according to a recent report released by the
General Accounting Office.
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The GAO surveyed 35 government agencies from July 2001 to January 2002 at the
request of House Majority Leader Dick Armey, Texas Republican, who requested the
report last summer after seeing spending increases for automated traffic cameras and
facial recognition technology.
Facial recognition research and development made up more than 90 percent of
federal surveillance budgets since 1997.
Of the 35 agencies the GAO surveyed, "17 reported obligating $51 million to
[red-light, photo radar and biometric camera surveillance] as of June 2001, with the
largest amount reported for facial recognition technology."
Two agencies reported promoting the use of the surveillance devices but did not
report spending any money on them, the report said. The State Department, for
instance, did not devote any money to deploying facial recognition as of June 20,
2001, but said it "planned to work with the Bureau of Consular Affairs to integrate
the devices into its counterterrorism database" this year.
Though the report did not include figures for this year's budget, several
agencies predicted that proposed surveillance spending would rise.
"Following the terrorist attacks on September 11, federal interest in facial
recognition technology as a security measure appears to have increased," the report
states.
Biometric devices use human characteristics such as retinal scans, fingerprint
imaging and facial and vocal recognition to verify individuals entering secured areas.
Mr. Armey has long been an opponent of government surveillance of American
citizens.
"We wanted to get a sense of how much funding has been there since the
beginning," said Richard Diamond, Mr. Armey's spokesman.
Mr. Diamond said the general public first learned of facial recognition after the
software was used during the 2001 Super Bowl. But the report said funding requests for
biometric security devices were first made 15 years ago. Federal funding for
photo-radar devices first showed up nearly 30 years ago.
"The first reported obligations for facial recognition technology were by the
[Department of] Defense in fiscal year 1987," the report said.
The report also said the first funding requests for photo-radar cameras came from
the Navy in 1974. But no one seems to recall why the Navy wanted the devices or what
they planned to do with them.
The Defense and Justice departments have spent more money than the other agencies
combined on facial recognition since 1997, according to the report.
While most of the money spent has been for development and research, very little
has been used to deploy facial recognition technology in government facilities.
Katie Corrigan, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, said
part of the reason the government has not fully committed to using facial recognition
is that "the technology is ineffective and fallible."
"Several government studies have found, including a National Institute for
Standards in Technology [report], that the technology has a high number of false
negatives."
She said the National Institute study found that after faces were inserted into a
database for 18 months, 43 percent of all scans turned up false negatives.
Mr. Armey said his goal in requesting the report was to spark public debate on
the growth of government surveillance and the erosion of civil liberties Americans
take for granted.
"We wanted to raise awareness of the issue, and we were successful now that other
members [of Congress] have taken up the cause," Mr. Diamond said.
The Washington Times reported in March that Rep. Constance A. Morella, chairman
of the House Government Reform subcommittee on the District, said it's up to
legislatures to limit law enforcement agencies' growing use of surveillance
technology.
Mrs. Morella, Maryland Republican, said in a March 22 subcommittee hearing that
the use of cameras for security and traffic enforcement were outpacing federal laws
and advancing without the necessary public debate.
D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District's nonvoting representative in
Congress, said the fact that several federal officials from the Office of Homeland
Security, the Justice Department, FBI, U.S. Capitol Police and Secret Service, among
others, did not show up to testify before the subcommittee was "unjustifiable."
--------------------
"No person is so grand, wise and perfect as to be the slavemaster of another person."
Carl Hess
Atlas, it is time to shrug.
Scott Dykstra
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is dishonest, insane, and intolerable."
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