19 Types of Surveillance Continued. 15. The Growing use of Facial Recognition Technology. This technology has exploded in recent years. There are 32 states that use some type of FRT for DMV photos. NYS, where I live, does so. Read this scary story by Naomi Wolf: “a software engineer went on a ride at Disneyland and was offered a photo of himself and his girlfriend to buy-with his credit card information already linked to it. He said he never entered his name or information into anything at the park, or indicated that he wanted a photo, or alerted the humans at the ride who he or his girlfriend were–so, he said, based on his professional experience, the system had to be using facial recognition technology. He had never signed an agreement allowing them to do so, and argued that this use was illegal. He also claimed that Disney had shared data from FRT with the US military. The author calls this “creepy” and it is definitely that! Identix, the facial recognition contractor has contracts also with the US government for technology that identifies people in a crowd………. 16. Rapid DNA Testing. Law enforcement agencies, says the author, loves DNA testing even more than facial recognition. According to Ellen Messmer, a long term goal of the FBI has finally been achieved–near instant DNA analysis using mobile equipment in the field. Now that the FBI has this rapid response, it is promoting the rapid response gear in every police agency in the country……………………………………….17. The FBI’s Next Generation Identification System. It was recently announced that the FBI is spending a billion dollars to develop a NGI System that will combine the most advanced biometric identification technologies to create a database superior to anything that law enforcement in the US has ever had before. Its called the Next Generation Identification System (NGI) System. It is a nationwide database of mugshots, iris scans, DNA records, voice samples and other biometrics that will help the FBI identify and catch criminals. But privacy advocates are raising their eyebrows at the way the data is collected…………………………………. 18. The NYPD’s Domain Awareness System. Police departments are spending big money to upgrade their surveillance capabilities. The NYPD’s new Domain Awareness System was described in an article by Neal Ungerleider: Using DAS, police are able to monitor thousands of CCTV cameras around the five boroughs, scan license plates, find out the kind of radiation vehicles are emitting and extrapolate info on criminal and terrorism suspects from dozens of criminal databases-all in near-real time. Microsoft has plans to put these systems nationwide………….. 19. Trapwire. A huge network of incredibly advanced spy cameras is currently being installed nationwide. The system is called “Trapwire” and the author describes it thus: You are being watched. The government has a secret system–a machine–that spies on you every hour of every day. Just joking. That’s how “Person of Interest” starts every episode on CBS. Those who watch the show assume its fictional. But they would be wrong. Shocking new details have emerged that prove that a creepy nationwide network of spy camera is being rolled out across the US. These highly accurate cameras send back data every few seconds to a centralized processing center where it is analyzed. The authorities believe that the world has become such a dangerous place that to keep us all safe, everyone must be watched all of the time. But the truth is that, instead of “saving Americans,” all these repressive surveillance technologies are slowly killing our liberties and our freedoms. America is being transformed into an Orwellian prison camp right in front of our eyes and very few people are even objecting to it. I wish I could add a commentary, but I’m speechless.