Geoslavery: Here's What's In It For Us
The planned roll-out of hand geometry scanners in all New York City government agencies has sparked union cries of "geoslavery" and assertions that technology developed for security will be used to track, label and control workforces.
"It's frustrating, it's kind of an insult," Colson, 53, told Reuters. "They are talking about going to voice and retina scanners and that's an invasion of privacy in that they can track you wherever you go."

Get used to it, bud. Nobody seems to give a shit about your precious privacy. You must be a pedophile.
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Maine To US Guv: Fuck Off!
Maine lawmakers on Thursday became the first in the nation to demand repeal of a federal law tightening identification requirements for drivers' licenses, a post-September 11 security measure that states say will cost them billions of dollars to administer.
Maine lawmakers passed a resolution urging repeal of the Real ID Act, which would create a national digital identification system by 2008. The lawmakers said it would cost Maine about $185 million, fail to boost security and put people at greater risk of identity theft.

8 other states have similar measures pending. We can only fight for the rest to join us. Don't let them digitize your face!
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UK: Security Cameras to Watch the Speed Cameras
Speed cameras in the Scottish Borders may soon be monitored by security cameras to protect them from vandals.
It is among the measures being considered by the Lothian and Borders Safety Camera Partnership.
There have been seven camera attacks in just three years, with machines being set alight, damaged or pulled over.
Cameras on the A68, A1 and the A697 in Berwickshire have all been targeted prompting the partnership to look at ways of increasing security.

...and then a third one to monitor the camera that's monitoring the Speed Camera...Why not just implant a camera in the ass of every human on Earth? That would solve everything.
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NEW YORK, Jan. 10 -- A day after a man was sentenced to 30 years in prison for conspiring to bomb Manhattan's Herald Square, his parents and sister were detained by federal immigration officials seeking to deport them.

Shahwar Matin Siraj, 24, was sentenced Monday afternoon for plotting to blow up a subway station in the Midtown shopping district known for its Macy's store. Early Tuesday morning, his family was arrested at its home in Jackson Heights, Queens.

Police officials hailed the sentencing of Siraj, a Pakistani immigrant, as a victory against homegrown terrorism.

But Siraj contended that he was entrapped by a police informant, who he said inflamed his anger at the United States by showing him photographs of American acts of abuse against Muslims, including incidents at the Abu Ghraib prison, and prodded him to consider violence. The informant, Osama Eldawoody, was recruited by the New York City Police Department after Sept. 11, 2001, to monitor radical Muslims in the city.

Siraj never obtained explosives, nor made a timetable for an attack. He has no known connection to any terrorist organization.

His family has lived in the United States since 1999 and has been seeking asylum since 2003, said their attorney, Mona Shah.

A spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency that detained the family, said that a final order of removal has been issued against the father, Siraj Abdul Rehman, 54. But Shah said that case is pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit.

The immigration cases of Siraj's mother, Shahina Parveen, 50, and his sister, Sanya Siraj, 19, are dependent on the father's case, Shah said.

Mark Thorn, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman, could not say why the family was detained the day after the sentencing.

"The administrative arrests were timed so they would not conflict with the criminal prosecution or sentencing," he said.

But Shah charged that the arrests effectively muted the family's protest after the sentencing of the son.

"It's not American, to punish one person and the next day arrest the entire family," Shah said. "This is basically silencing them."

The family is being held at a detention facility in Elizabeth, N.J.


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"They say money talks, and a new report suggests Canadian currency is indeed chatting, at least electronically, on behalf of shadowy spies.

Canadian coins containing tiny transmitters have mysteriously turned up in the pockets of at least three American contractors who visited Canada, says a branch of the U.S. Department of Defence.

A U.S. security report says Canadian coins with tiny transmitters have turned up, and could be used to track defence industry personnel.

Security experts believe the miniature devices could be used to track the movements of defence industry personnel dealing in sensitive military technology."
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"The U.S. agency best known for eavesdropping on telephone calls had a hand in the development of Microsoft’s Vista operating system, Microsoft confirmed Tuesday.



The National Security Agency (NSA) stepped in to help Microsoft develop a configuration of its next-generation operating system that would meet U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) requirements, said NSA spokesman Ken White.



This is not the first time the secretive agency has been brought in to consult private industry on operating system security, White said, but it is the first time the NSA has worked with a vendor prior to the release of an operating system."
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Malmö, Sweden - Close to 10 million new photos are uploaded to the web on a daily basis. Polar Rose indicates this number “is doubling every eight to ten months”.

Polar Rose is capitalizing on this opportunity with a system that makes photos searchable by analyzing their content and recognizing the people in them using facial recognition.

The Polar Rose plug-in for Firefox and Internet Explorer lets you discover who's in a picture on any public photo. The plug-in detects people in online photos and places the Polar Rose “signature” rose approximately where the pinhole of their shirt would be. A click on the rose will bring up a tooltip with relevant information, including name and other photos found of the same person. Users help train the Polar Rose engine by tagging names or verifying the data generated by Polar Rose or by your fellow users.
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Time to clean up your myspace pages, people!

Tokyo To Blanket Ginza With RFID Tags
"The Tokyo Ubiquitous Network Project has announced plans to blanket the Ginza region of Tokyo, the most popular shopping district, with 10,000 RFID tags and other wireless technologies to provide shopper-assistance and location-based services.

The trial starts later this month, and will feature a specially-designed handheld equipped with RFID, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. This handheld can rented by visitors, though the vision is that the service should be available on compatible phone handsets.

The thousands of RFID tags are used to identify where the user is; each has a unique serial number which is sent to a central server that responds with local information and directions if required.

The device will also automatically display special offers in nearby shops, and give information about the various retailers in each of the many buildings in the area."
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In Case U Missed It...
"Secret radar technology research that will allow the biggest-ever extension of 'Big Brother'-style surveillance in the UK is being funded by the Government. The radical new system, which has outraged civil liberties groups, uses mobile phone masts to allow security authorities to watch vehicles and individuals 'in real time' almost anywhere in Britain.

The technology 'sees' the shapes made when radio waves emitted by mobile phone masts meet an obstruction. Signals bounced back by immobile objects, such as walls or trees, are filtered out by the receiver. This allows anything moving, such as cars or people, to be tracked. Previously, radar needed massive fixed equipment to work and transmissions from mobile phone masts were thought too weak to be useful. The system works wherever a mobile phone can pick up a signal. By using receivers attached to mobile phone masts, users of the new technology could focus in on areas hundreds of miles away and bring up a display showing any moving vehicles and people.

An individual with one type of receiver, a portable unit little bigger than a laptop computer, could even use it as a 'personal radar' covering the area around the user. Researchers are working to give the new equipment 'X-ray vision' - the capability to 'see' through walls and look into people's homes."
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FLASHBACK: Precrime - It Works!
"Citizens For a Murder Free America needs you to support Precrime in your city or town..."
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Tracking Children Through Their Shoes
"The technology incorporated can be used in different styles of shoes including cross-training, running and even military boots.

Once activated, a map will pinpoint the location of the shoe and track it's every move, alerting authorities immediately.

The cost of the GPS shoe is expected to be about three-hundred dollars a pair, including the monthly fee for service."
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Car Automatically Shuts Down When Driver Is Drunk
"Toyota Motor Corp. is developing a fail-safe system for cars that detects drunken drivers and automatically shuts the vehicle down if sensors pick up signs of excessive alcohol consumption, a news report said Wednesday.

Cars fitted with the detection system will not start if sweat sensors in the driving wheel detect high levels of alcohol in the driver's bloodstream"
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