Big Data allows governments to spy on citizens with impunity

big-data

December 17, 2012
Rawlson King

Governments in North America will increase their use of “Big Data” technologies to spy on their citizens. A recent report in the Wall Street Journal has noted that the U.S. government has granted a little-known agency entitled the National Counterterrorism Center with sweeping authority to store and monitor massive amounts of data about law-abiding Americans. The Center serves as the primary organization in the U.S. government for integrating and analyzing all intelligence pertaining to terrorism and serves as the central

U.S. gov’t sponsors new predictive surveillance technology

Carnegie-Mellon-University

October 31, 2012
Stephen Mayhew

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed new surveillance technology that watches human activity and predicts what will happen next. According to a Forbes article, the United States Army Research Laboratory sponsored Carnegie Mellon researchers to develop an artificial intelligence system that can watch and predict what a person will “likely” do in the future using specially programmed software designed to analyze various real-time video surveillance feeds. The system can automatically identify and notify officials if it recognizes that an

U.S. Government Spends $832,000 on TrapWire

trapwire-monitoring

September 5, 2012
Stephen Mayhew

Recent WikiLeaks documents have revealed that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security paid US$832,000 to deploy Trapwire surveillance in Washington, D.C. and Seattle. E-mails uncovered in a hack earlier this year from Strategic Forecasting Inc., a global intelligence company based in Austin, Texas suggested that Occupy groups were being spied on with the system. As reported previously in BiometricUpdate.com, TrapWire is a the system that digitally records video at surveillance points in major cities and landmarks across the United States

Anonymous releases TrapWire video, plans global protest

trapwire-monitoring

August 27, 2012
Stephen Mayhew

Hacktivist group Anonymous has released a video describing how people can avoid being tracked by surveillance cameras and facial recognition software. In the video, the group recommends wearing a mask, but notes that masks are not always suitable in public and do not protect against biometric authentication used by TrapWire, software that facilitates intelligence gathering on American and global citizens, using a combination of surveillance technology, incident reports from citizens, and data correlated from local police and law enforcement agencies.

The Trouble with TrapWire

trapwire-monitoring

August 24, 2012
Rawlson King

Over the past week, the press and the Twitterverse has been running rampant with stories about TrapWire, the counter-terrorism technology company that produces a homonymous predictive software system designed to find patterns indicative of terrorist attacks. The company was named in recent WikiLeaks releases as the source of software that facilitates intelligence gathering on American and global citizens, using a combination of surveillance technology, incident reports from citizens, and data correlated from local police and law enforcement agencies. As reported

Anonymous Taps MacGyver, Tackles Facial Recognition in Latest Video

facial-recognition2

August 22, 2012
Adam Vrankulj

Hacktivist group Anonymous has released another ominous video, and this time it’s about thwarting biometric facial recognition systems with a hat, a battery and a few small infrared lights. “Many of you have heard the recent stories about TrapWire,” the robotic narration begins. “Constant video surveillance is an issue we presently face. However, there are a number of ways that you can combat this surveillance.” At this point, the video gives some basic instructions for avoiding the facial recognition tech

U.S. surveillance system shopped to national security agencies

trapwire-monitoring

August 16, 2012
Stephen Mayhew

New e-mail correspondence released by WikiLeaks reveals that TrapWire, supplier of a controversial U.S. security surveillance system, intended to sign up major law enforcement and national security agencies throughout the contiguous United States and Canada. Fred Burton, vice-president of intelligence at Strategic Forecasting Inc., purportedly stated in e-mail conservations that: “TrapWire may be the most successful invention on the GWOT (Global War on Terrorism) since 9-11” and that the system should be sold to law enforcement agencies with major counter-terrorism

U.S. surveillance system spying on public spaces

trapwire-monitoring

August 13, 2012
Stephen Mayhew

According to a series of recent news reports, former senior U.S. intelligence officials have created a detailed domestic surveillance system that leverages a network of security cameras and facial recognition software. Entitled TrapWire, the system digitally records video at surveillance points in major cities and landmarks across the United States and instantaneously delivers intelligence information to a fortified central database center at an undisclosed location. TrapWire describes itself as a risk mitigation technology and services company that designs, builds and