To: [email protected] Subject: [ PFIR ] How long before DHS has "Gorgon Stare" above *our* cities?
This winter, the Air Force is set to deploy to Afghanistan what it says is a revolutionary airborne surveillance system called Gorgon Stare, which will be able to transmit live video images of physical movement across an entire town. How long before DHS has "Gorgon Stare" above *our* cities? http://bit.ly/h1lJHN (Google Buzz) - - - The Washington Post has an article today about the latest surveillance toy ostensibly designed for military use abroad -- "Gorgon Stare" -- reportedly capable of aerial surveillance of an entire town or city. http://bit.ly/g9LnkQ (Washington Post) Supposedly designed for immediate use in Afghanistan (where critics contend "boots on the ground surveillance and contacts" may be far more effective), the Post includes one "throwaway" line of particular note: "The Department of Homeland Security is exploring the technology's potential, an industry official said." Given U.S. authorities' continuing mantra that "we have no expectation of privacy in public places" -- one can only imagine the salivating over technology like this that must already be taking place at DHS. In particular, this is a prime example of why people who spend their time harassing Google over static satellite and Street View imagery (that have very useful applications for ordinary consumers) are so far off target. Real-time technologies like vast CCTV networks and Gorgon Stare, capable of observing large areas and recording the resulting live data to be held and used for indefinitely long periods, should be receiving our own "stare" of criticism and concern. These are the technologies so easily abused, not static images of driveways and houses that are typically months or even years old. --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein ([email protected]) http://www.vortex.com/lauren Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 Co-Founder, PFIR (People For Internet Responsibility): http://www.pfir.org Founder, NNSquad (Network Neutrality Squad): http://www.nnsquad.org Founder, GCTIP (Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance): http://www.gctip.org Founder, PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein Google Buzz: http://bit.ly/lauren-buzz _______________________________________________ pfir mailing list http://lists.pfir.org/mailman/listinfo/pfir _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
