Depressing. Particularly depressing when you consider that this is only what they're willing to tell us about & does not include classified capabilities (and/or deployments).
Barry On Jan 2, 2011, at 2:10 PM, Arthur Cordell wrote: > > 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 _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
