Army Tracking Plan: Drones That Never Forget a Face

Perhaps the idea of spy drones already makes your nervous. Maybe youre uncomfortable with the notion of an unblinking, robotic eye in the sky that can watch your every move. If so, you may want to click away now. Because if the Army has its way, drones wont ust be able to look at what you do. !heyll be able to recogni"e your face # and track you, based on how you look. If the military machines assemble enough information, they might ust be able to peer into your heart. !he Pentagon has tried all sort of tricks to keep tabs on its foes as they move around$ tiny transmitters, lingering scents, even %human thermal fingerprints.& !he military calls the effort %!agging, !racking, and 'ocating,& or %!!'.& And, as the strategy in places like Afghanistan has shifted from rebuilding societies to taking out individual insurgents, !!' has become increasingly central to the American effort. (undreds of millions of dollars have been devoted to it. !he current technologies have their limits, however. !ransmitters can be discovered, and discarded. )cents eventually waft away. *ven the tagged can get lost in a crowd. But there are some things that cant be so easily discarded. 'ike the shape of your face. +r the feelings you keep inside. !hats why the Army ust handed out a half,do"en contracts to firms to find faces from above, track targets, and even spot %adversarial intent.& %If this works out, well have the ability to track people persistently across wide areas,& says !im -altemier, the lead biometrics researcher at Progeny )ystems .orporation, which recently won one of the Army contracts. %A guy can go under a bridge or inside a house. But when he comes out, well know it was the same guy that went in.& Progeny ust started work on their drone,mounted, %'ong /ange, 0on,cooperative, Biometric !agging, !racking and 'ocation& system. 1/' )ource$ http$22www.wired.com2gangerroom234552462drones,never,forget,a,face2

Congress report warns: drones will track faces from the sky
I am the eye in the sky, looking at you By /ichard .hirgwin 7 8et more from this author Posted in )ecurity, 59th )eptember 3453 44$4: 8M! -ree whitepaper ; (ands on with (yper,< 9.4 and virtual machine movement =ith the -AA working on rules to integrate drones into airspace safety by 345>, the 1) governments .ongressional /esearch )ervice has warned of gaps in how American courts might treat the use of drones. !he snappily,headlined report, Drones in Domestic Surveillance Operations: Fourth Amendment Implications and Legislative Responses ?P@- hereA, notes drones now in use can carry thermal imaging, high,powered cameras, license plate readers and 'I@A/ ?light detection and rangingA. %)oft& biometrics and facial recognition wont be far behind, the report suggests, allowing drones to %recogni"e and track individuals based on attributes such as height, age, gender, and skin color.& %!he relative sophistication of drones contrasted with traditional surveillance technology may influence a courts decision whether domestic drone use is lawful under the -ourth Amendment,& the report compiled by legislative attorney /ichard !hompson II states. !he report eBpresses a view that in most cases, using drones to spy on people in their homes would have to fall within the legal %plain view& doctrine ?which means police can only carry out surveillance of someones home from a %lawful vantage point&A. (owever, areas nearby the home ; say, in a driveway or at a gate ; receive a much more ambiguous protection. !he report is also concerned that the falling cost of drones could, in itself, eBacerbate privacy concerns, noting that$ %access to ineBpensive technology may significantly reduce budgetary concerns that once checked the government from widespread surveillance.& !he .ongressional research report comes hard on the heels of a Panopticon,style -BI pro ect became public. !he -eds billion,dollar facial recognition %0eBt 8eneration Identification& pro ect, described here in New Scientist. .oncerns about citi"ens being %droned& into a Panopticon arent confined to America. -ollowing stories in the Sydney Morning erald about the increasing adoption of unlicensed private drones in Australia, the nationCs Privacy .ommissioner !im Pilgrim has called for public debate about the technology, since the use of a drone by individuals %in their private& capacity is not covered by Australias Privacy Act. 1/' )ource$ http$22www.theregister.co.uk234532592congressDwarnsDonDdrones2
%)oft& biometrics and !acial recognition wonCt be far behind, the report suggests, allowing drones to %recogni"e and track individuals based on E FDrones can easily be eGuipped with !acial recognition cameras, infrared cameras or open =i,-i sniffers,F

http$22www.fas.org2sgp2crs2natsec2/H3I45.pdf

Military,type drones with face recognition soon in 0J.

0ew Jork$ 0ew Jork .ity mayor Michael Bloomberg has said that military,style drones will soon be patrolling the skies above the city, adding that face,recognition software will also monitor each and every move of the deni"ens in the style of 3443 !om .ruise starrer Minority /eport. Putting the timeframe for an all,seeing society at about five years with cameras situated at every place, Bloomberg said that the city is going to have more visibility although the residents have to pay for an increase in security with a lack of privacy. Bloomberg further said that technicians are also working on building face recognition software for the cityCs residents. Adding that drones are necessary to stop suspected attacks on the city, the mayor said that it makes no difference if a drone is spying from air or from the top of a building. !he mayor warned people to get ready to be automatically spied upon CBig BrotherC style, adding that in the instances of robberies or murders in a neighbourhood, the police first checks the security cameras before embarking on an investigation. !he mayor also approved of speed cameras to motorist from going too fast on city streets. Minority /eport, set primarily in =ashington, @., and 0orthern <irginia in the year 34>H, shows a speciali"ed police department called Pre.rime that apprehends criminals based on foreknowledge, along with a face recognition software, provided by three psychics called precogs.

1/' )ource$ http$22"eenews.india.com2news2world2military,type,drones,with,face,recognition, soon,in,nycD:9I946.html

)enators fear drones Cbu""ing overhead

Senators expressed concern on =ednesday that without proper restrictions, police and private groups could
use drones to invade the privacy of people in the 1nited )tates. @rones are cheaper to build and fly than helicopters, making them a cost,effective option for police departments looking to gain a birdCs eye view of a scene. .ommercial drones are currently illegal, but the -ederal Aviation Administration ?-AAA is working on rules to grant licenses to private groups by 345>. !he -AA has predicted that by the end of the decade, 94,444 commercial and government drones could be flying in 1.). skies. !hatCs a frightening prospect for lawmakers who fear the drone fleet will be used to peer into peopleCs private lives. F=hile there may be many valuable uses for this new technology, the use of unmanned aircraft raises serious concerns about the impact on the constitutional and privacy rights of American citi"ens,F )enate Kudiciary .ommittee .hairman Patrick 'eahy ?@,<t.A said during a hearing on =ednesday. F!he thought of government drones bu""ing overhead, monitoring the activity of law abiding citi"ens, runs contrary to the notion of what it means to live in a free society,F 8rassley ?/,IowaA, the committeeCs ranking member, said. Amie )tepanovich, an attorney for the *lectronic Privacy Information .enter, said the drones could be eGuipped with cameras, microphones, heat sensors or facial recognition technology. )ome drones are able to hover in place, allowing them to spy on a person without detection for a long period of time. )he argued that police should need a warrant to use drones to collect evidence on a suspect in a criminal investigation, and that people should have a private right of action to sue drone operators that infringe on their rights. )he also urged .ongress to limit the use of commercial drones, warning that a person could use a drone to stalk or harass others. /yan .alo, a law professor at the 1niversity of =ashington, stressed the potential that drones have for eBciting new services and innovations. F!heyCre basically flying smartphones. I think that once private industry gets their hands on these, youCre going to see some really great wonders,F .alo said. But he also warned that privacy law has not caught up to the new technology, saying itCs not clear whether the courts would rule that the .onstitution reGuires a warrant for persistent drone surveillance. (e urged .ongress to enact legislation to clarify privacy rules for drone use. Ben Miller of the Mesa .ounty, .olo., )heriffCs +ffice testified that his department has used drones to combat fires and find missing people. (e said police can use drones to conduct aerial missions for a fraction of the cost of a helicopter and with greater safety.

Michael !oscano, president and .*+ of the Association for 1nmanned <ehicle )ystems International, a drone industry lobbying group, argued that commercial drones will create I4,444 new obs and L59.M billion in economic growth in the three years after they are legali"ed.

(e agreed with other witnesses that eGuipping domestic drones with weapons is a Fnon,starter.F A number of lawmakers have introduced legislation to set privacy standards for drone use, and some states have also moved to limit the technology.

1/' )ource$ http$22thehill.com2blogs2hillcon,valley2technology23:699I,senators,worry,about,domestic,drone, surveillance

@rone )urveillance Program

'ook, 1p In !he )kyN ItCs A Drone, 'ooking At Jou It is the stuff of science fiction$ a drone flies hundreds of feet overhead, rapidly snapping images and collating them into a 9@ model of your !ace %)oft& biometrics and !acial recognition wonCt be far behind, the report suggests, allowing drones to %recogni"e and track individuals based on E FDrones can easily be eGuipped with !acial recognition cameras, infrared cameras or open =i,-i sniffers,F

!he conseGuences of increased government surveillance through the use of drones are even more troubling. !he ability to link !acial recognition capabilities on +ne would arm drones with !acial recognition software that can remember faces so targets canCt disappear into crowds.