Stratfor emails hacked by Anonymous, released by Wikileaks, reveal secret, widespread TrapWire surve

[Kiwi Bird]

[quote]
Former senior intelligence officials have created a detailed surveillance system more accurate than modern facial recognition technology — and have installed it across the US under the radar of most Americans, according to emails hacked by Anonymous.
Every few seconds, data picked up at surveillance points in major cities and landmarks across the United States are recorded digitally on the spot, then encrypted and instantaneously delivered to a fortified central database center at an undisclosed location to be aggregated with other intelligence. It’s part of a program called TrapWire and it's the brainchild of the Abraxas, a Northern Virginia company staffed with elite from America’s intelligence community. The employee roster at Arbaxas reads like a who’s who of agents once with the [URL="http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=19103971&authType=OPENLINK&authToken=2Mog&locale=en_US&srchid=5455d9d7-ccb8-4bcb-9b67-64873cf4785a-0&srchindex=2&srchtotal=69&goback=.fps_PBCK_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_265884_*1_Y_*1_*1_*1_false_1_R_*1_*51_*1_*51_true_*1_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_265884_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2&pvs=ps&trk=pp_profile_name_link&_mSplash=1"]Pentagon[/URL], [URL="http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=27325872&authType=OUT_OF_NETWORK&authToken=7DUb&locale=en_US&srchid=5455d9d7-ccb8-4bcb-9b67-64873cf4785a-0&srchindex=11&srchtotal=69&goback=.fps_PBCK_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_265884_*1_Y_*1_*1_*1_false_2_R_*1_*51_*1_*51_true_CC%2CN%2CG%2CI%2CPC%2CED%2CL%2CFG%2CTE%2CFA%2CSE%2CP%2CCS%2CF%2CDR_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_265884_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2&pvs=ps&trk=pp_profile_name_link&_mSplash=1"]CIA[/URL] and [URL="http://www.linkedin.com/search/fpsearch?companyId=265884&sortCriteria=R&keepFacets=&facet_CC=265884&_mSplash=1#facets=companyId%3D265884%26searchLocationType%3DY%26keepFacets%3DkeepFacets%26facet_CC%3D265884%26viewCriteria%3D1%26sortCriteria%3DR%26facetsOrder%3DCC%2CN%2CG%2CI%2CPC%2CED%2CL%2CFG%2CTE%2CFA%2CSE%2CP%2CCS%2CF%2CDR%26page_num%3D1%26openFacets%3DCC%2CN%2CG"]other[/URL] government entities according to their public LinkedIn profiles, and the corporation's ties are assumed to go deeper than even documented.
The details on Abraxas and, to an even greater extent TrapWire, are scarce, however, and not without reason. For a program touted as a tool to thwart terrorism and monitor activity meant to be under wraps, its understandable that Abraxas would want the program’s public presence to be relatively limited. But thanks to last year’s hack of the Strategic Forecasting intelligence agency, or Stratfor, all of that is quickly changing.
Hacktivists aligned with the loose-knit Anonymous collective took credit for [URL="http://rt.com/usa/news/anonymous-stratfor-barrett-firm-777/"]hacking[/URL] Stratfor on Christmas Eve, 2011, in turn collecting what they claimed to be more than five million emails from within the company. WikiLeaks began [URL="http://www.rt.com/news/wikileaks-straftof-email-dump-273/"]releasing[/URL] those emails as the Global Intelligence Files (GIF) earlier this year and, of those, several discussing the implementing of TrapWire in public spaces across the country were circulated on the Web this week after security researcher [URL="http://privatepaste.com/f9dd332518/weqwewqesada"]Justin Ferguson[/URL] brought attention to the matter. At the same time, however, WikiLeaks was relentlessly assaulted by a barrage of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, [URL="http://rt.com/usa/news/wikileaks-attacks-antileaks-group-293/"]crippling[/URL] the whistleblower site and its mirrors, significantly cutting short the number of people who would otherwise have unfettered access to the emails.
On Wednesday, an administrator for the WikiLeaks Twitter account wrote that the site suspected that the motivation for the attacks could be that particularly sensitive Stratfor emails were about to be exposed. A hacker group called AntiLeaks soon after took credit for the assaults on WikiLeaks and mirrors of their content, equating the offensive as a protest against editor Julian Assange, [I]“the head of a new breed of terrorist.”[/I] As those Stratfor files on TrapWire make their rounds online, though, talk of terrorism is only just beginning.
Mr. Ferguson and others have mirrored what are believed to be most recently-released Global Intelligence Files on external sites, but the original documents uploaded to WikiLeaks have been at times unavailable this week due to the continuing DDoS attacks. Late Thursday and early Friday this week, the GIF mirrors continues to go offline due to what is presumably more DDoS assaults. Australian activist Asher Wolf [URL="https://twitter.com/Asher_Wolf/status/233715529955811328"]wrote[/URL] on Twitter that the DDoS attacks flooding the servers of WikiLeaks supporter sites were reported to be dropping upwards of 40 gigabits of traffic per second. On Friday, WikiLeaks [URL="https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/233974141940797440"]tweeted [/URL]that their own site was sustaining attacks of 10 Gb/second, [URL="https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/233975826620743680"]adding[/URL],[I] "Whoever is running it controls thousands of machines or is able to simulate them."[/I]

According to a press release ([URL="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CF0QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.trapwire.com%2FSafeHarbor.pdf&ei=rqgkUJT4Loe60QHEpYHIDA&usg=AFQjCNEM7La-WMPlol0ygvN3FxKmoIt_ow&sig2=OERy_0xRjCP8R4Qe6XMK3g"]pdf[/URL]) dated June 6, 2012, TrapWire is [I]“designed to provide a simple yet powerful means of collecting and recording suspicious activity reports.” [/I]A system of interconnected nodes spot anything considered suspect and then input it into the system to be "[I]analyzed and compared with data entered from other areas within a network for the purpose of identifying patterns of behavior that are indicative of pre-attack planning.”[/I]
In a 2009 [URL="http://privatepaste.com/7add918e4c/trapwireBehaviorPatternsToIdentifySurveillance"]email[/URL] included in the Anonymous leak, Stratfor Vice President for Intelligence Fred Burton is alleged to write, [I]“TrapWire is a technology solution predicated upon behavior patterns in red zones to identify surveillance. It helps you connect the dots over time and distance.”[/I] Burton formerly served with the US Diplomatic Security Service, and Abraxas’ staff includes other security experts with experience in and out of the Armed Forces.
What is believed to be a partnering agreement included in the Stratfor files from August 13, 2009 indicates that they signed a contract with Abraxas to provide them with analysis and reports of their TrapWire system ([URL="https://anonfiles.com/file/1c64a0f12dc7b44db47a18b4ca0145df"]pdf[/URL]).
[I]“Suspicious activity reports from all facilities on the TrapWire network are aggregated in a central database and run through a rules engine that searches for patterns indicative of terrorist surveillance operations and other attack preparations,[/I]” Crime and Justice International magazine explains in a 2006 article on the program, one of the few publically circulated on the Abraxas product ([URL="http://www.cjimagazine.com/archives_PDF/CJI_Magazine_Archive_2006_11-12.pdf"]pdf[/URL]). [I]“Any patterns detected – links among individuals, vehicles or activities – will be reported back to each affected facility. This information can also be shared with law enforcement organizations, enabling them to begin investigations into the suspected surveillance cell.”[/I]
In a 2005 [URL="http://www.nvtc.org/tec/RichardHelms.php"]interview[/URL] with The Entrepreneur Center, Abraxas founder Richard “Hollis” Helms said his signature product[I] “can collect information about people and vehicles that is more accurate than facial recognition, draw patterns, and do threat assessments of areas that may be under observation from terrorists.[/I]” He calls it [I]“a proprietary technology designed to protect critical national infrastructure from a terrorist attack by detecting the pre-attack activities of the terrorist and enabling law enforcement to investigate and engage the terrorist long before an attack is executed,”[/I] and that, “[I]The beauty of it is that we can protect an infinite number of facilities just as efficiently as we can one and we push information out to local law authorities automatically.”[/I]
An internal email from early 2011 included in the Global Intelligence Files has Stratfor’s Burton allegedly [URL="http://privatepaste.com/04662a436d/trapwireFacialRecognitionOrTrapwire"]saying[/URL] the program can be used to [I]“[walk] back and track the suspects from the get go w/facial recognition software.”[/I]
Since its inception, TrapWire has been implemented in most major American cities at selected high value targets (HVTs) and has appeared abroad as well. The [URL="http://www.capflyer.com/article/20110722/NEWS10/110729975/protecting-our-ranks-by-keeping-our-eyes-on-the-lookout"]iWatch[/URL] monitoring system adopted by the Los Angeles Police Department ([URL="http://file.lacounty.gov/bc/q3_2007/cms1_074025.pdf"]pdf[/URL]) works in conjunction with TrapWire, as does the [URL="http://www.trapwire.com/lanier-senate-hearing.htm"]District of Columbia[/URL] and the "See Something, Say Something" program conducted by law enforcement in [URL="http://www.trapwire.com/trapwire.html"]New York City[/URL], which had 500 surveillance [URL="http://pastebin.com/fwhJENUt"]cameras[/URL] linked to the system in 2010. Private properties including [URL="http://www.trapwire.com/trapwire.html"]Las Vegas[/URL], Nevada [URL="http://www.emergencymgmt.com/safety/Las-Vegas-Fusion-Center-Public-Private-Collaboration-052411.html?page=2&"]casinos[/URL] have subscribed to the system. The State of Texas [URL="http://privatepaste.com/04eaef4343/trapwireEveryHVTUSCANUK"]reportedly[/URL] spent half a million dollars with an additional annual licensing fee of $150,000 to employ TrapWire, and the [URL="http://privatepaste.com/febefa287f/trapwirePentagonArmyUSMCNavy"]Pentagon[/URL] and other military facilities have allegedly signed on as well.
In one email from 2010 leaked by Anonymous, Stratfor’s Fred Burton allegedly [URL="http://privatepaste.com/04eaef4343/trapwireEveryHVTUSCANUK"]writes[/URL], [I]“God Bless America. Now they have EVERY major HVT in CONUS, the UK, Canada, Vegas, Los Angeles, NYC as clients.[/I]” Files on [URL="http://usaspending.gov/explore?tab=By%2BPrime%2BAwardee&fiscal_year=all&typeofview=transactions&contractorid=619014728&contractorname=ABRAXAS+APPLICATIONS%2C+INC.#spending_contracts"]USASpending.gov[/URL] reveal that the US Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense together awarded Abraxas and TrapWire more than one million dollars in only the past eleven months.
News of the widespread and largely secretive installation of TrapWire comes amidst a federal witch-hunt to crack down on leaks escaping Washington and at attempt to prosecute whistleblowers. Thomas Drake, a former agent with the NSA, has recently spoken openly about the government’s Trailblazer Project that was used to monitor private communication, and was charged under the Espionage Act for coming forth. Separately, former NSA tech director William Binney and others once with the agency have made claims in recent weeks that the feds have dossiers on every American, an allegation NSA Chief Keith Alexander dismissed during a speech at Def-Con last month in Vegas.[/quote]

Source: [URL="http://rt.com/usa/news/stratfor-trapwire-abraxas-wikileaks-313/"]Russia Today
[/URL][URL="http://rt.com/usa/news/stratfor-trapwire-abraxas-wikileaks-313/"]
[/URL]Alternate Sources:
[URL="http://io9.com/5933966/wikileaks-reveals-trapwire-a-government-spy-network-that-uses-ordinary-surveillance-cameras"]io9[/URL]
[URL="http://venturebeat.com/2012/08/10/wikileaks-trapwire-stratfor-cia/"]Venturebeat[/URL][URL="http://rt.com/usa/news/stratfor-trapwire-abraxas-wikileaks-313/"]
[/URL]

[Morris Vander]

"Source: Russia Today"

Mhm, yeah, sorry if I don't believe an entirely anti-west news source when it's talking about America.

[YourFriendJoe]

[QUOTE=Morris Vander;37191188]"Source: Russia Today"

Mhm, yeah, sorry if I don't believe an entirely anti-west news source when it's talking about America.[/QUOTE]

Yeah but I wouldn't doubt if something stupid like this actually happened considering it's anonymous.

[Loriborn]

So basically from what I get is that there are cameras all over the U.S. that monitor us as we go about our lives in an attempt to "thwart terrorism" and shit like that? I mean, they make it sound like it's just a giant security camera network, but that's still scary and privacy invasive as fuck.

[editline]11th August 2012[/editline]

Realized source is Russia Today, taking with grain of salt.

[Kiwi Bird]

[QUOTE=Morris Vander;37191188]"Source: Russia Today"

Mhm, yeah, sorry if I don't believe an entirely anti-west news source when it's talking about America.[/QUOTE]

Ok, how about [URL="http://io9.com/5933966/wikileaks-reveals-trapwire-a-government-spy-network-that-uses-ordinary-surveillance-cameras"]io9[/URL] and [URL="http://venturebeat.com/2012/08/10/wikileaks-trapwire-stratfor-cia/"]Venturebeat[/URL]? I personally don't know the legitmacy of either, I just googled 'TrapWire' and found them

Also, at least read the article before you post about it

edit: Also note how Wikileaks released the emails themselves, and then got a massive 10Gb/s DDoS that is still running.

[Morris Vander]

I don't believe RT for a second about this, what with their hate for America. To me, it sounds like they're trying to make America seem like some overparanoid Big Brother deal, when it really isn't.

[Loriborn]

I don't know, if this is true, and it's only recording you in public places, it's not as scary as it could be, but I'm more afraid of the domino effect that may occur. I mean, most places already have security cameras for general criminal activity, this sounds like that except in gov't owned public locations and locations that agree to set up the cameras. As far as I know, they're also only using it for terrorist activity, rather than normal crimes like petty theft.

My only real concern is the definition of "terrorist activity" and how far this project goes.

[asteroidrules]

[QUOTE=Kiwi Bird;37191179]Source: [URL="http://rt.com/usa/news/stratfor-trapwire-abraxas-wikileaks-313/"]Russia Today
[/URL][/QUOTE]

Well that explains why this all sounds like conspiracy theory bullshit.

[Amez]

send in jensen

[ZomboJoe]

This was all released by wikileaks a couple of days ago. I'm damn sure that reputable.

Reading their emails makes me feel like its Deus Ex in real life.

From: "Aaron C. Pigeon"
Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2010 14:35:31 -0500
To: Fred Burton
Subject: Re: More for the blog
posted

http://fredburton.posterous.com/new-surveillance-tool-for-interrupting-terror
On 9/22/10 1:47 PM, Fred Burton wrote:


This week, 500 surveillance cameras were activated on the NYC subway
system to focus on pre-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
(www.abraxasapps.com). 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.
Operationally, the ability to identify hostile surveillance at one
target set -- in multiple cities -- can be used to neutralize terror
threats by interrupting the attack cycle. Meaning, a suspect
conducting surveillance of the NYC subway can also be spotted by
TrapWire conducting similar activity at the DC subway, connecting the
infamous dots. An additional benefit of TrapWire is that the system can
also be used to help "walk back the cat" after an attack to identify
terrorist suspects and modus operandi. I can also see the tool being
very effective in identifying general street crime.

The surveillance detection was identified by the TrapWire surveillance
system. I'm getting the details on the recons and m.o. The matter is
very dicey. Pls don't pass this around. Thanks

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Fred Burton [mailto:[e-mail]]
Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2010 8:33 PM
To: [e-mail]
Subject: LA Terror Plot (not for pub - pls do not forward)
According to a very good source responsible for domestic surveillance
operations, an extremely serious al Qaeda terror plot has been uncovered
targeting a financial institution, an entertainment center and a
government office bldg in Los Angeles. The same terrorist surveillance
team conducted pre-operational surveillance of all three sites. The
group is currently under watch....

[Loriborn]

Something tells me this release of information is more bad than good. The risk involved in letting the bad guys know you're watching them is not good at all.

[DamagePoint]

[QUOTE=zombojoe;37191577]This was all released by wikileaks a couple of days ago. I'm damn sure that reputable.

From: "Aaron C. Pigeon"
Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2010 14:35:31 -0500
To: Fred Burton
Subject: Re: More for the blog
posted

http://fredburton.posterous.com/new-surveillance-tool-for-interrupting-terror
On 9/22/10 1:47 PM, Fred Burton wrote:


This week, 500 surveillance cameras were activated on the NYC subway
system to focus on pre-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
(www.abraxasapps.com). 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.
Operationally, the ability to identify hostile surveillance at one
target set -- in multiple cities -- can be used to neutralize terror
threats by interrupting the attack cycle. Meaning, a suspect
conducting surveillance of the NYC subway can also be spotted by
TrapWire conducting similar activity at the DC subway, connecting the
infamous dots. An additional benefit of TrapWire is that the system can
also be used to help "walk back the cat" after an attack to identify
terrorist suspects and modus operandi. I can also see the tool being
very effective in identifying general street crime.

[/QUOTE]

So there's a bunch of security cameras monitoring the NYC and DC subway systems?

Yeah, no shit.

[Zambies!]

[quote]----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Fred Burton [mailto:[e-mail]]
Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2010 8:33 PM
To: [email][e-mail][/email]
Subject: LA Terror Plot (not for pub - pls do not forward)
According to a very good source responsible for domestic surveillance
operations, an extremely serious al Qaeda terror plot has been uncovered
targeting a financial institution, an entertainment center and a
government office bldg in Los Angeles. The same terrorist surveillance
team conducted pre-operational surveillance of all three sites. The
group is currently under watch....[/quote]

Woah woah woah.

[Kiwi Bird]

[QUOTE=DamagePoint;37191702]So there's a bunch of security cameras monitoring the NYC and DC subway systems?

Yeah, no shit.[/QUOTE]

What TrapWire does is use something like face recognition to identify people it sees under all the cameras in its network, analyze their behavior and detect if it is terrorist in nature, and then encrypt and send that information to whoever collects it, and then they possibly send it to the local Police Departments so they can act on the information.

For the love of god, read the article before you post

[swebonny]

Well, this Trapwire thing does exist : [url]http://www.trapwire.com/[/url]

Seems to work by analyzing terrorist pattern or whatever they're talking about.

[DamagePoint]

[QUOTE=Kiwi Bird;37191851]What TrapWire does is use something like face recognition to identify people it sees under all the cameras in its network, analyze their behavior and detect if it is terrorist in nature, and then encrypt and send that information to whoever collects it, and then they possibly send it to the local Police Departments so they can act on the information.[/QUOTE]

To me what this sounds like is it's automating a lot of the processes that's already being done already by law enforcement. It's not like this is anything new, it's just become automated.

The only concern I can see coming from this is false positives, but I'm placing hope that the police will do at least a little policework before acting on any information. This is a lot less scary than the title made it sound.

[ZomboJoe]

[QUOTE=DamagePoint;37191702]So there's a bunch of security cameras monitoring the NYC and DC subway systems?

Yeah, no shit.[/QUOTE]

It also doesn't bother you that they all have face recognition software and are all tied to a system that tracks all your digital activities, including your emails, online purchases and google searches?

These are not just typical security cameras.

[Pierrewithahat]

[QUOTE=Loriborn;37191611]Something tells me this release of information is more bad than good. The risk involved in letting the bad guys know you're watching them is not good at all.[/QUOTE]

They already know they're being watched, if they didn't they'd be on the same level as Sunday morning cartoon villians.

[Loriborn]

[QUOTE=zombojoe;37192137]It also doesn't bother you that they all have face recognition software and are all tied to a system that tracks all your digital activities, including your emails, online purchases and google searches?

These are not just typical security cameras.[/QUOTE]

The article says nothing about tracking your emails, purchases, or anything like that. The system clearly says it takes use of normal security cameras, nothing more. Facial recognition is not a big deal, we already do it.

[editline]12th August 2012[/editline]

[QUOTE=Pierrewithahat;37192235]They already know they're being watched, if they didn't they'd be on the same level as Sunday morning cartoon villians.[/QUOTE]

You can be surprised how stupid some terrorists are. As in, trying to hide explosives in their shoes and underwear.

[Pierrewithahat]

[QUOTE=Loriborn;37192258]The article says nothing about tracking your emails, purchases, or anything like that. The system clearly says it takes use of normal security cameras, nothing more. Facial recognition is not a big deal, we already do it.

[editline]12th August 2012[/editline]

You can be surprised how stupid some terrorists are. As in, trying to hide explosives in their shoes and underwear.[/QUOTE]

Like I said, Sunday morning cartoon villians :v:

The ones to worry about are sleeper cells that can happily just wait around for 10 years or so and then just shred their target when everyone thinks it's safe.

And you seem to have missed the part where it says it is combined with other information in a hardened data centre.

[NateLB]

Am I the only one that doesn't care if I might be recorded in public?

[.FLAP.JACK.DAN.]

What exactly was the whole point of wikileaks releasing these emails?

[Loriborn]

[QUOTE=Resfan;37192292]Am I the only one that doesn't care if I might be recorded in public?[/QUOTE]

Honestly, I agree. I'm in public, I don't care if people record me because there are still laws I have to obey. Now if I'm on my own property, then no, but this is obviously just used at public locations with high tendency of being hit, like landmarks. I don't see how that is bad at all.

[NateLB]

Is there ever REALLY a point when wikileaks releases something?
I haven't seen a point in anything their doing.

[Loriborn]

[QUOTE=.FLAP.JACK.DAN.;37192322]What exactly was the whole point of wikileaks releasing these emails?[/QUOTE]

Freedom of information, but sometimes some information is more dangerous to release than anything. I am all for releasing information that can help the public, but this doesn't benefit anyone at all and just manages to ruin tons of work and effort to prevent terrorist activity, as seen in the response email.

[editline]12th August 2012[/editline]

my automerge

[Kiwi Bird]

The 'point' in all this is to reveal systems that have been kept secret that constantly track us and collect information on every public action we make, which some people believe to be an intrusion of privacy. It's something to worry about because what if somebody could hack into the storage centers where all this information is kept, and then learn about everything you do? And what if this system makes a mistake, and labels an innocent person as a terrorist? It could potentially turn out very bad if anything were to go wrong.

[I]"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."[/I]
-Benjamin Franklin

[lunarwalrus]

It's only in high value areas from what it seems. They're not recording you jacking off through your windows.

[NateLB]

[QUOTE=Loriborn;37192338]Freedom of information, but sometimes some information is more dangerous to release than anything. I am all for releasing information that can help the public, but this doesn't benefit anyone at all and just manages to ruin tons of work and effort to prevent terrorist activity, as seen in the response email.

[editline]12th August 2012[/editline]

my automerge[/QUOTE]

And Wikileaks more times than not releases information that hurts more than it helps.

[QUOTE=Kiwi Bird;37192384]The 'point' in all this is to reveal systems that have been kept secret that constantly track us and collect information on every public action we make, which some people believe to be an intrusion of privacy. It's something to worry about because what if somebody could hack into the storage centers where all this information is kept, and then learn about everything you do? And what if this system makes a mistake, and labels an innocent person as a terrorist? It could potentially turn out very bad if anything were to go wrong.

[I]"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."[/I]
-Benjamin Franklin[/QUOTE]
Really? Oh no! They will figure out EVERYTHING about you because they watch you in these FEW locations crowded with people.
They aren't watching you everywhere, there isn't anything that I care if people learn about me from being in public, because guess what folks, there are OTHER PEOPLE that see you, same as a camera.

Also, how many terrorist plots have we thwarted because of all the surveillance we have?

We have cameras at my work, oh dear, that's an invasion of my privacy!
Some hacker will learn about everything I do!
At work.
Dear lord take down EVERY CAMERA EVERYWHERE!

Sorry, but we need cameras.
You have cameras on you 24/7 when you're shopping, when you're buying a burger, when you're pumping gas.
Shut the fuck up about cameras.

[Loriborn]

[QUOTE=Kiwi Bird;37192384]The 'point' in all this is to reveal systems that have been kept secret that constantly track us and collect information on every public action we make, which some people believe to be privacy intrusion. It's something to worry about because what if somebody could hack into the storage centers where all this information is kept, and then learn everything you do? And what if this system makes a mistake, and labels an innocent person as a terrorist? It could potentially turn out very bad if anything were to go wrong.

[I]"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."[/I]
-Benjamin Franklin[/QUOTE]

Nice job turning it into a conspiracy theory based on no factual information. Seriously, did you read the article at all? All it does is monitor high-risk locations, things like famous landmarks and high economic areas that would be very prone to terrorist attack. Unless your bedroom is at incredible risk of being blown up, they don't give a fuck about what you do. Stop trying to make it seem like the U.S. Gov't is trying to go Big Brother every chance they get. The only thing this system does is take normal security camera information, run a facial scanning system to see who you are, encrypts it, and then sends it back to the system storage.

As for what if the system mistakes you for a terrorist? Well, first off, we've already established through the emails and information, that the system just uses the facial scanner to put a name to your face, probably labels you with a code. So say they see Civilian #2463 buying bomb supplies. They won't try and search for him until they have a good idea that he is actually a terrorist. As you can see from the response email, they're not making moves on people until they know for a fact that they could be terrorists.

Honestly, the only information that can be hacked from this is if you were near any terrorist hotspot recently, and if you did anything suspicious. Hell, it's more than likely they don't even have a name tied to you, just a face and a number, and that's only if you're suspicious. They're not going to make a move on you or anything and it's just for monitoring places. You shouldn't be doing something you want nobody to know about in the metro of NYC.

[Kiwi Bird]

[QUOTE=Resfan;37192392]
Really? Oh, they will figure out EVERYTHING about you because they watch you in these FEW locations crowded with people.
They aren't watching you everywhere, there isn't anything that I care if people learn about me from being in public, because guess what folks, there are OTHER PEOPLE that see you, same as a camera.

Also, how many terrorist plots have we thwarted because of all the surveillance we have?[/QUOTE]

I'm not aware or any terrorist plots being foiled due to surveillance, and my main concern with this system is that it isn't like the security cameras at a small store that keeps the video locally, but rather all the video from all the cameras it has (a lot) is all sent to a central location where it can identify everybody it records, and analyze their behavior and potentially mistake it as potentially criminal, and then having a whole train stopped and have SWAT rush in because some guy scratched his butt with the wrong hand