bigbrother
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Japan could keep tabs on defense officials via GPS phones
It's not like the Japanese government hasn't dabbled in GPS (and RFID, too) tracking before, but the nation's latest idea involving Big Brother is (unsurprisingly) catching a fair amount of criticism. Reportedly, Japan wants to equip senior defense officials with GPS-enabled mobiles, and it's making no bones about the reasoning behind it. Quite frankly, it's looking for ways to keep a more watchful eye on officials' whereabouts after a higher-up was recently "treated to hundreds of expensive rounds of golf by a defense contractor." Reportedly, the handsets would only be given out to senior staff "required to report for duty in the case of a security emergency," but a number of anonymous individuals have already expressed disdain for the plan through local news outlets. Nothing to hide, nothing to fear, right?
China outdoes itself with unprecedented surveillance initiative
The Chinese government, long-renowned for its tolerance, unobtrusive law-making, and general good vibes, has announced plans to begin outfitting its citizens with a new kind of ID card; one with an embedded chip that will include the holder's name, address, work history, educational background, religion, ethnicity, police record, medical insurance status and landlord's phone number. The cards will also carry reproductive history information, to further aid authorities in enforcing China's "one child" policy. Ostensibly, the cards will keep track of the large influx of peasants moving to cities, though Michael Lin, VP of China Public Security Technology, went on (in Orwellian fashion) to say; "If they do not get the permanent card, they cannot live here, they cannot get government benefits, and that is a way for the government to control the population in the future." Additionally, authorities are aggressively installing new security cameras around cities like Shenzhen, which utilize sophisticated recognition software co-developed by US companies like IBM, HP, and Dell. When reached for comment at the Ministry of Truth, the Chinese version of Big Brother was unavailable, as he was busy rationing out Soylent Green, Soma, and Ludovico technique treatments.[Via Techmeme]
LAPD getting the 'Cops' treatment at all major events
Considering that UK traffic wardens are already wielding handheld camcorders to record their daily activities, it's not too shocking to hear that the LAPD will soon be implementing a similar, albeit more extreme, version of employee recording. In the wake of the "MacArthur Park melee," the department's chief has stated that a camera crew will now "follow officers through major incidents, recording their actions from the early roll call to the after-incident report." Supposedly, this all-seeing crew will ensure that police remain on their best behavior, and moreover, it promises that videoed evidence will always be available in the case of a discrepancy. As if that wasn't enough Big Brother for you, the station has also announced plans to equip a helicopter with a long-range HDTV camera that will beam back images to a command station. At this point, they might as well yank the UK's hovering drones too and save the effort.[Image courtesy of Polizeros]
Microsoft envisions invasive approach to targeted advertising
Not that getting all up in our proverbial grills in order to provide specialized advertising is a new concept or anything, but Microsoft in particular has been on the warpath of late in this very realm. On the heels of a similar ad-based patent application comes documentation that reveals plans to use "biometric sensors, cameras, remote controls, or other accessories" to detect and identify an individual before doling out targeted plugs. Yes, this certainly does insinuate that your television would be watching you just as often as you viewed it, but unless it becomes lawful to stuff monitoring devices into our homes for the benefit of marketers, we'll consider ourselves safe -- for the time being.[Via TechDirt]
RDISS: the Army's uber-vigilant surveillance system
Being dropped into no man's land without a hint of what's going on around you can't be fun (or safe, for that matter), but scoping out foreign territory in a hurry just got a lot more reasonable. The Army's Rapid Equipping Force has developed the Rapid Deployment Integrated Surveillance System, or RDISS, which "can be installed quickly and with minimal training." Deemed "simple" to setup, the system is designed to "improve situational awareness for soldiers at joint security stations and combat outposts throughout Iraq," and plans are already in place to establish "hundreds" of these systems in various locales by the year's end. Nah, it's not nearly as hip as using GPS-equipped spy squirrels, but we guess it'll do the trick.[Via The Raw Feed]
France planning to 'triple' CCTV surveillance capacity
At least those residing in the UK can breathe a momentary sigh of relief, as it's not the only locale where the amount of surveillance drones is quickly approaching the number of citizens. Reportedly, French interior minister Michele Alliot-Marie recently announced that the government is planning to "triple" the existing CCTV surveillance capacities across the country, "with a view to curb the risks of terrorism and acts of violence." Beyond just bumping the amount of eyes scanning for troublemakers, she also suggested that the network of systems be more tightly connected in order to effectively "protect the French people and enable them to move freely without fearing for their lives or property." Of course, we're sure there's quite a few citizens who'd have beef with the whole "moving freely sans fear" tidbit, no?[Via The Raw Feed]
Stephen Colbert gets an iPhone, warns of impending iEye release
Although it's still not clear if Stephen Colbert was forced to actually shell out some hard-earned cash in order to procure his very own iPhone, one thing is certain: he finally owns one. The comedic talking head announced (and shamelessly boasted about) his new toy in a clip dubbed "March to Enslavement," where he made the not-so-wild prediction that one day we'd all bow to the robots we eagerly create. 'Course, that may be somewhat of a stretch, but the potentially forthcoming Apple iEye contraption may be closer to reality than we humans would like to believe. Frightened? Wait 'til you take a peek of it after the break...[Thanks, Dylan]
Omniscient webcam to deter distance education cheating
We're fairly sure that none of you angels out there enrolled in distance education courses have ever considered sneaking a peek in the textbook or seeing what Google had to say about a perplexing mid-term question, but for Troy University students, a new device is being deployed to make absolutely certain. The webcam-based unit was crafted by Software Secure, and simultaneously freezes the test taker's computer so he / she can only access the test module and records both audio and video whilst flagging "questionable" movements that the instructor can review for unpropitious behavior. Thankfully for those of us not enrolled at Troy, it doesn't look like any other institutions have hopped on board just yet, but if you've grown reliant on computer assistance to get you those As Cs, we wouldn't put off graduating for much longer.
Logitec intros digital recorder for consumer telephones
Personal voice recorders simply aren't likely to start up any serious controversy anytime soon, but Logitec's latest spin on taping audio just might raise a few hairs. The LIC-TRA056SD is a "private telephone recorder" that plugs right into your home phone and captures conversations conveniently on the built-in 128MB of storage. If those 50 hours of capacity aren't enough to catch someone red handed, you can also throw in a spare SD card and create an audio archive of every phone call you'll ever make. Additionally, the USB connectivity ensures that extracting dubious MP3 / WAV files won't be a chore, and considering that everything looks to be password protected, the digital eavesdropping crowd will be out of luck. Unfortunately, there's no word just yet on how much this dodgy device will run you, but it should hit the shelves of Japan before the month's end.[Via AkihabaraNews]
Big Brother-equipped straight jacket further proves you're crazy
While the Virtual Hallucinating goggles and Brain Machine can certainly give you a taste of the erratic, a new behavioral-pattern monitor at the University of California, San Diego will reportedly be used to "study the behavior of patients with mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia." The LifeShirt, "a computerized vest that continuously monitors the patient's movements," sports integrated sensors to monitor hyperactive and repetitive movements and record data on "respiration, heart rate, and other physiological measures." Notably, the padded room wearers are presumably crammed into sports a ceiling-mounted webcam that films their exploratory behavior in order to better analyze movement patterns associated with certain disorders. Eventually, of course, researchers are hoping that data collected from the sensor-laden straight jacket could be used to create new drugs to help combat the behavioral abnormalities, but for all of our sakes, let's hope this thing doesn't fall into the wrong hands.[Via MedGadget, photo courtesy of TechnologyReview]
UK traffic wardens to wield handheld camcorders
At this point, the near-daily implementations of added surveillance in England is bordering on comical, but for the residents of the country, we're sure it feels more like infuriating. Just days after introducing the British to flying all-seeing police bots comes news that traffic wardens in Salford are becoming the first in the UK to wield handheld video camera. The move was reportedly made so that attendants could have "evidence to prove beyond doubt that the penalties its wardens hand out are justified," which sounds like it could cut down on any questionable penalization that disgruntled employees had the power to administer. Additionally, video from the camcorders will be used in cases where wardens are "assaulted or abused" while on the job, and while we're sure it's not part of the plan, the UK government could have miles of footage for its own rendition of COPS should it choose to use it.[Via Inquirer]
UK to get even more Big Brother with hovering drones
With literally hundreds of thousands of cameras -- some sporting speakers and microphones -- trained on its poor citizens from the moment they step out of the house in the morning until their hasty retreat inside at night, we're not sure why the UK needs yet another set of eyes scoping out so-called 'anti-social behaviour' among the populace, but that isn't stopping the vanguard of Big Brother technology from deploying its first unmanned police drone next month. In what is being perhaps optimistically billed as just a three-month trial, Merseyside police will unleash a one-meter wide, night-vision camera-equipped mini-helicopter into the skies (up to 500-meters high) above their jurisdiction, and task it with gathering evidence for court cases as well as the less glamorous job of monitoring traffic congestion. Originally built for the military by a Germany company and called the 'hicam microdrone,' these repurposed mechanical bobbies can either be controlled by an operator via remote or set to patrol autonomously using their built-in GPS nav systems. You'll recall that a similar system being considered by the L.A. County Sheriff's Department was shot down by the FAA around this time last year, proving once again that up-and-coming British criminals could probably minimize their risks of incarceration by making the move Stateside. [Via The Register, pic courtesy of microdrones GmbH, thanks Paul J. and rastrus]
Japan looking to establish wireless island
Honestly, we're a bit freaked out right here in the US of A with all the RFID tags floating around in various forms, but Japan is planning to take tagging to the extreme by creating an island where there's just no escapin' it. The nation is looking to set up an "experimental landmass" where a smorgasbord of sensors will "allow doctors to remotely monitor the health of the elderly," and in another instance, "monitor the movement of pedestrians and notify nearby drivers." Additionally, IC tags could be implanted into produce in order to divulge information such as where it was grown to a shopper's mobile phone. Reportedly, the government is talking with local telecom carriers, electronics manufacturers, automakers, and several "other companies" as it attempts to assemble the pieces, and while no specific test site has been nailed down just yet, "the northern island of Hokkaido or southern island chain of Okinawa" are currently the most likely candidates.[Via Textually]
Google is watching you
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Google_is_watching_you_even_when_you_play_with_yourself'; Google has invented a system for monitoring the habits of online gamers. The technology is intended to track gaming habits in order to make in-game advertising more relevant to users. It's targeted at all online platforms, including Wii.Apparently our playing habits can reveal all sorts of information about us. The way we behave in a game can be used to draw up a profile of our psychological characteristics, and this data can then be used to sell us stuff.The system was patented in the US and Europe last month, although Google say they have no plans to roll it out in the near future. Privacy campaigners have deep concerns about the system, pointing out that while Google's ideas may be relatively benign, the information may not stay in their hands. The US federal government has already taken Google to court in order to gain access to their data.So what do your gaming habits say about you? Does your in-game behaviour reflect your real life personality? Any dirty little secrets hiding on your memory cards? They might not be secrets for much longer.[Via Wiiha!]
EU's intelligent cameras could nix the infamous 'bag drop'
One of the oldest and most successful tricks in the book could be finally meeting its match, as the infamous "bag drop" seen in countless silver screen suspense flicks is now the focal point of the European Union's latest investment in intelligent cameras. The EU has partnered with ten other companies and research institutes to fund the $3.11 million ISCAPS (Integrated Surveillance of Crowded Areas for Public Security) project, which does a fair job in and of itself explaining the duties. While the Brits are wading through gobs of surveillance issues in their own land, this attempt to utilize smart camera systems to pick up "abandoned bags, erratic movements, loitering, or suspicious vehicle movements" could cause quite a bit of fuss right next door. The crew has purportedly done extensive interviewing with security experts to program in what could be classified as dodgy behavior in a bustling locale, but the ultimate decision to approach someone of their motives would still be left up to a human (at least for the time being). Looks like your plans to pull off a Thomas Crown Affair of your own just got spoiled, eh?
Bermuda to RFID tag every motor vehicle
In what may be the largest implementation yet of wireless vehicle tracking technology, the island nation of Bermuda plans to slap RFID tags on every single car, truck, and motorcycle in the country, in an effort to exert more control over a road system which is said to carry the world's highest density per square mile of motor traffic. Consisting of vehicle-mounted transmitters and portable and stationary readers, the so-called electronic vehicle registration system promises to reduce the number of non-compliant vehicles on the road to below one percent while at the same time recouping some $11 million in fines that would otherwise have been lost over a five year period. To stifle privacy concerns, Bermuda's Transport Control Department mandated that the 3M-built tags only contain vehicle-specific data -- and not personal driver information -- although we can't imagine that authorities won't be using the system to track down carjackers, kidnappers, and other fleeing criminals. Either way, we sure wouldn't want to be cruising around the streets of St. George in the near future, because it sounds like unsuspecting motorists are about to get deluged by a torrential downpour of tickets and citations.
Berkeley's "respectful" surveillance cameras disregard faces
While blatantly spying on us is one thing, attempting to freshen it up by suggesting a venerating alternative is bordering on preposterous. As we've seen at the Sky Harbor airport, officials are trying nearly anything they can to make forthright invasions of privacy seem a bit less offensive, and a CCTV camera developed by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley is next up to bat. The so-called "respectful cameras" are aimed at places of employment, where specified workers would wear a given marker that could be recognized by the camera. After being identified, the camera would then spot out the face of the individual to provide some sort of false assurance that their identity is magically safe. The best, er, worse part, however, is that the system doesn't actually delete the face beneath the circle, as it "allows for the privacy oval to be removed from a given set of footage in the event of an investigation." So much for dodging Big Brother.[Via SciFiTech]
Nuke detectors could eventually reside in your cellphone
Just in case fixed sensors all across the country, bomb-sniffing bees, and Bay Area nuke detectors weren't enough to make you rest easy, Homeland Security is cookin' up another safeguard at the expense of privacy. Reportedly, the Department is looking into the idea of "outfitting cellphones with tiny, sensitive detectors that would alert the government and emergency responders to the presence of radiological isotopes, toxic chemicals, and deadly biological agents." Essentially, future mobiles could come pre-loaded with such a device that continuously monitors said chemicals and sends off alerts via GPS if anything goes awry. Of course, officials are expecting "quite a few hurdles" along the way, one of which will be battling the privacy advocates who don't understand that their handset probably already contains the technology for Big Brother to see everywhere they go. No word on when these plans could take effect, nor whether older phones will be retrofitted with the toxic sensors, but we can already envision quite a few false alarms care of the cellphone-totin' chemists in the crowd.[Via Textually]
UK Constitution Committee to investigate surveillance overload
For those dwelling in England who enjoy a touch of privacy in their day to day lives, help could be on the way. Amidst the smattering of new surveillance methods being installed and implemented within the nation's border comes a second inquiry into the "constitutional implications" of such invasive measures. If you'll recall, the Commons' Home Affairs committee has already planned its own review, and now the UK's Constitution Committee will be "conducting an inquiry on the consequences of the collection and use of surveillance and personal data by the State." Basically, the group is trying to visualize just how damaging all these CCTV installations, car trackers, and behavior monitors are on the "relationship between individuals and institutions." Another aspect will be to scrutinize whether UK citizens need additional protection under the law from such voyeuristic tactics, and judging solely by the sheer multitude of surveying going on over there, we couldn't complain with a little extra shielding. [Warning: Word Document read link][Via El Reg]
California gang members to sport GPS trackers
Things just seem to be going downhill ever since the courts ruled that dodgy GPS tracking wasn't unlawful, and here again we're seeing Big Brother tactics being used to keep a sharp eye on ex-criminals. While no variety of console is being handed out to folks who rat out San Bernardino County gang members, officials are hoping to get several Senate Bills and an Assembly Bill passed which would divvy out "harsher punishments and monitoring standards for gang members." Essentially, ex-gang members would be required to sport GPS tracking devices so The Man can "track adult gang members currently on probation," which certainly would give them a reason to ponder whether jumping at the next temptation is really worth it. Currently, the pilot program is up and running in Apple Valley and Victorville, and so far "35 adult probationers have been fitted with GPS devices," but if you mischievous ones are counting on a lack of funding to dry this initiative up real quick like, you should probably know that Sentinel is providing the devices for the current program "at no cost."[Via TheRawFeed]
