An article in Muckrock reveals that the California Department of Justice (CDOJ) is using facial recognition cameras to spy on everyone.
The CDOJ spent close to one million dollars ($850K) to install NEC’s NeoFace system everywhere.
According to the article, the CDOJ has been spying on everyone since April 26th., 2016.
What’s even worse is the CDOJ is paying NEC $650,000 a year in ‘support fees’ every year. Which means Calif. taxpayers are paying $650K a year for the privilege of being spied on.
Is it a coincidence that NEC opened up a Biometric Center for Excellence in California and another one in Washington, DC?
California and the NEC call their new system the Integrated Criminal Justice Image System (ICJIS) which is actually run by DHS Fusion Centers!
DOJ lies to Congress about facial recognition usage
According to page 8 of NEC’s, ICJIS document, when the contractors were finished with the installation they had to destroy all evidence (documents) of their collaboration with the CDOJ.
In other words, the DOJ is covering their tracks and doesn’t want the public to know how widespread their facial recognition surveillance system really is. (To find out more about the DOJ lying to Congress click here, here & here.)
If the DOJ and police are willing to lie about facial recognition, has the Bill of Rights become a joke?
Facial recognition cameras identify and track people in real-time
Page 24 of ICJS document reveals, their cameras are capable of identifying people in real-time.
It’s also troubling to discover, that just about anyone can use these cameras to identify the public without a warrant. Page 27 reveals how law enforcement partners and public safety agencies have access to the cameras.
Page 27 also reveals that facial recognition cameras have the ability to track, watch or flag people.
And pages 33 & 34 reveal how the CDOJ uses the National Institute of Standard and Technology and the American National Standard for Information Standards to help them spy on everyone.
The state of Pennsylvania also uses NEC’s, JNET Facial Recognition Solution to identify everyone.
“The system serves more than 800 contributing law enforcement and other state offices in Pennsylvania and includes more than 250 capture locations, more than 2.5 million arrest records, and 38,000 web retrieval users sharing data records and mug shot images across the state’s WAN.” (For more information about JNET click here & here.)
The Feds, are using corporations to spy on everyone, what’s wrong with this picture?
Courthouses, DMV’s, Social Services etc., to be equipped with facial recognition cameras
Two years ago, the Carnahan Courthouse in St. Louis began using police run facial recognition cameras to identify everyone.
“A group of current and retired St. Louis police officers developed the technology over eight years and recently formed a company, Blue Line Security Solutions, to market it.”
Court visitors are asked to pause at the gates and take off their hats, glasses or other obstructions, so facial recognition cameras can identify them.
Soon every government agency will have facial recognition cameras, unless we do something now.
Feds claim facial recognition cameras are for their security and safety
The Feds, claim that “face recognition technologies can identify suspects and improve security and officer safety.”
Don’t believe them, facial recognition is all about control, knowing who you are and where you are.
Do you feel safer knowing the government is using corporations to spy on you and your family?
http://massprivatei.blogspot.com/2017/05/california-doj-purchases-facial.html
*** Facial recognition cameras identify and track people in real-time
Page 24 of ICJS document reveals, their cameras are capable of identifying people in real-time.
It’s also troubling to discover, that just about anyone can use these cameras to identify the public without a warrant. Page 27 reveals how law enforcement partners and public safety agencies have access to the cameras.
Page 27 also reveals that facial recognition cameras have the ability to track, watch or flag people. ***
Some systems may have that capability, but that doesn’t appear to be what’s described on those pages. I haven’t yet read the whole document, but it seems to be describing a database for the comparison of still photographs.
Page 24 seems to be referring to a requirement that users be capable of accessing the database quickly (i.e., real-time) for investigations. And the “alerts” mentioned on page 27 seem to refer to messages that are sent when a remotely collaborating user of the database access or changes some of its data.
FR is bad news for sure, but I don’t think it’s accurate enough yet for real-time tracking of everyone. It may never be that accurate. It sure hasn’t been useful for solving shootings in cities like Chicago, which has cameras everywhere.
*** Court visitors are asked to pause at the gates and take off their hats, glasses or other obstructions, so facial recognition cameras can identify them. ***
That right there tells you something. In day to day life, if you want more privacy, obscure your face as much as possible without looking suspicious.
Of course, if you really need to hide your identity (as protesters often want to do), wear a full-head mask. Be sure the area around the eyes is especially well covered.
REAL-TIME FACE RECOGNITION THREATENS TO TURN COPS’ BODY CAMERAS INTO SURVEILLANCE MACHINES:
“The integration of real-time face recognition with body-worn cameras is further along than lawmakers and citizens realize.”
“Taser, which leads the market for body cameras, recently acquired two startups that will allow it to run video analytics on the footage the cameras collect, and Taser’s CEO has repeatedly emphasized the development of real-time applications, such as scanning videos for faces, objects, and suspicious activity.”
https://theintercept.com/2017/03/22/real-time-face-recognition-threatens-to-turn-cops-body-cameras-into-surveillance-machines/
Surveillance cameras can track multiple people:
http://massprivatei.blogspot.com/2015/12/surveillance-cameras-can-track-multiple_21.html
Security versus privacy: Residents weigh in on cameras on Bourbon Street:
“Perhaps the most dramatic of the proposed security improvements would be the installation of video cameras along Bourbon Street, capable of capturing license plates and tracking suspects…”
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2017/01/bourbon_street_safe_shootings.html
Multi-View Tracking of Multiple Targets with Dynamic Cameras:
https://varcity.ethz.ch/paper/gcpr2014_kroeger_MV.pdf
Yes, Taser/Axon and others have said they want to be able to do real-time FR, and research on tracking people across mutliple cameras has been done for many years. I’m only saying that I don’t think that’s what the document at the link was referring to.
(Honestly, I’m not sure if FR on body cameras would be very useful, even if they succeed in making it work. The pigs typically ride around in their cars most of the time anyway.)
I still don’t think it’s there yet. Again, look at the pathetic rate at which homicides are solved in cities like Chicago and Baltimore. Even in Boston, which I understand has an AIsight camera system covering much of the city now (and also Shotspotter), the police fail to arrest suspects in many fatal shootings and in 94-96% of nonfatal shootings.
Keep in mind that these are cities, where cameras are everywhere.
I’m not trying to downplay the threat here, but we don’t want to overstate it, either. And remember: all this crap stops the moment the people of this country have had enough. FR might help them track down one individual, but it won’t do them a lick of good against an angry horde of armed citizens.
I wouldn’t worry.
Because their software running this facial system.
Keeps keeps crashing on ugly people’s faces.
“Which means Calif. taxpayers are paying $650K a year for the privilege of being spied on.”
That’s to just ONE state ‘agency’.
Imagine what the feds are costing them.
btw… F%&K CA!