US spooks want 'stand off' biometrics-harvesting iPhones
Jesus mobe turns to service of darkness
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Sinister government agencies will soon be able to harvest our biometrics from afar without us even realising it has happened, according to reports. Even worse, one of the main tools of the coming surveillocracy is expected to be the beloved Jesus Phone, evilly twisted from its intended purpose of bringing peace and wellbeing to humanity.
Wired magazine reports on the new biometrics push, which is being spearheaded by IARPA, the new US spooktech agency modelled on the famed military loonybin-laboratory DARPA. It seems that the American Q-branch people want to be able to scan face, eye and/or voice prints "at standoff distance under uncontrolled acquisition conditions".
Present-day biometric tech generally requires a subject to look or speak into a sensor under friendly ambient conditions. This means that on the whole, you're going to know if someone has taken your prints, either to file them away or to check you against a database.
But now, if the IARPA Biometrics Exploitation Science and Technology (BEST) programme comes to fruition, watchers across the street - or perhaps using a concealed camera or a prowling robot aircraft overhead - could scan your eyes or face without you knowing it had happened. Such technology might be used to track everyone in the land automatically, as in the Tom Cruise flick Minority Report. (In the movie, cop-on-the-edge Cruise evades the misguided minions of the state by having a backstreet surgeon pull out his own peepers and replace them with a set of bootleg eyeballs.)
According to the Wired article, one of the companies which may be working with IARPA on the standoff biometrics tech is Animetrics. It is this firm which has corrupted all that is good and holy in the tech world - namely the iPhone - into the service of evil, by writing a faceprinting app for the Jesus mobe.
According to Animetrics:
With the simplicity of the iPhone user interface, operators are able to quickly and easily capture high quality images of people for identification purposes. The MultiTouch interface of the iPhone enables users to isolate faces and provide virtual zooming, optimizing the identification capabilities... The iPhone's integrated networking allows the use of standard protocols and a streamlined process for performing facial identification.The combination of the iPhone and Animetrics iFace offers new and powerful tools for a variety of mobile applications including shoplifting prevention, law enforcement and military security. iFace is currently undergoing evaluation... for use by the military, receiving rave reviews for usability by military personnel.
So there you have it. Jesus-mobe-toting spooks will shortly be able to covertly harvest your face using Multitouch and put it into a secret government database for use by council bin nazis, special-powers police, moralistic smut crusaders etc.
Don't say you weren't warned. ®
COMMENTS
But wait, there's more
When I read the headline of this article, I thought "They're talking about taking pictures of you, using your own cellphone, whenever you use it to make a video call, or even by remotely activating it."
Though the article doesn't mention these possibilities, they're still possible, or likely. It's already been revealed lately, that the "intelligence" communities record ALL electronic communications of every sort. They're able to get amazing compliance for their surveillance goals, from governments, communications companies, etc.--and, no doubt, from manufacturers too. It's the old "In Russia, TV watches YOU!" bit.
As for retina scanning from a high-flying surveillance drone, don't count on it--too high up--it will be done from the ground. Though if an individual wants to foil a retina scanner, it's likely that a contact lens could be developed (if it doesn't already exist) that prevents it, while still allowing the user to see through the lens quite well. Though if they detect anyone wearing these contacts, that would probably automatically trigger action for more direct observation.
@Eddy Ito:
"It's only a matter of time before they're sampling DNA from pheromones and body odor."
No, there's no DNA in pheromones and body odor, but it might be possible to grab a few skin cells you shed as you walk past a collection/analysis device.
@Tom
The DPA requires informed consent, unless the government has given that particular data gathering exercise an opt-out. Such as the number plate cameras in the London congestion charge zone, and your Oyster travel records.
Shh...
Shh... don't mention the Data Protection Act requires informed consent...
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