TrapWire is giving civil libertarians apoplexy.
U.S. GOVERNMENT IS SECRETLY SPYING ON EVERYONE USING CIVILIAN SECURITY CAMERAS, SAYS WIKILEAKS
Cameras use facial recognition to log people’s activity
By Rick Dewsbury
Mail Online
August 13, 2012
Anyone who takes a photograph at high-risk locations is logged as a suspected terrorist on a vast network of secret spy cameras linked to the U.S. Government, according to leaked emails.
People pointing cameras in New York are regarded as suspicious and the facial recognition images of them from the civilian CCTV are fed into a data center run by U.S. firm Abraxas.
The system then connects with hundreds of other cameras in a bid to pinpoint potential terrorist activity, it is claimed.
Details of the system emerged from emails released by whistle-blowing website Wikileaks. The issue has caused outrage among privacy campaigners amid fears that it could be abused.
It has disturbing echoes of the film, The Bourne Identity starring Matt Damon, in which CIA officials use a network of spy cameras to track around the world someone they though they had assassinated.
According to the email released by Wikileaks, pictures of people's faces are encrypted and sent to a fortified data centre at a secret location.
The TrapWire system is run by Abraxas and is linked to civilian CCTV cameras. The firm, owned by the Cubic Corporation, is apparently staffed by large numbers of former CIA employees.
The cameras in its TrapWire system are one of the methods it uses to do this.
TrapWire is used by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in a bid to deter terrorist attacks - or catch those responsible once an incident has happened.
According to the company's own documents from 2007, TrapWire is 'a unique, predictive software system designed to detect patterns of per-attack surveillance.' This includes 'photographing, measuring and signaling'.
More than 500 cameras using the technology have been installed on the New York subway. There are estimated to be thousands more around various U.S. cities and in London at potential terrorist targets such as Downing Street.
The firm also operates in several other U.S. states, in Canada and in London. It is said to have cameras also placed at high rick targets in the UK, including Downing Street.
An email from an employee at Strator - a Texas-based intelligence firm linked to Trapwire - in 2010 said the cameras were focused on 'per-operational terrorist surveillance'.
It stated: 'This week, 500 surveillance cameras were activated on the NYC subway system to focus on per-operational terrorist surveillance. The surveillance technology is also operational on high-value targets (HVTs) in DC, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and London and is called TrapWire.
'TrapWire is one of the most innovative tools developed since 9-11 to help mitigate terrorist threats. From a protective intelligence perspective, TrapWire does have the ability to share information on suspicious events or suspects between cities.'
In another email, Stratfor president Don Kuykendall wrote: 'Their clients include Scotland Yard, #10 Downing, the White House and many [business].
'Our consideration is introducing them to companies like Walmart, Dell and others.'
In a separate email, vice president Fred Burton wrote: 'Salesforce HQs in San Fran is interested in TrapWire after I briefed them on their wonderful capabilities'.
The emails have caused uproar among activists who believe that the use of the cameras is an infringement on people's freedom.
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