Washington’s Blog ~ Government Engaging In Pre-Crime Monitoring And Analysis

“We Have a System of Pervasive, Pre-Criminal Surveillance Where the Government Wants To Watch What You’re Doing Just to See What You’re Up To, To See What You’re Thinking, Even Behind Closed Doors” ~Edward Snowden

Click image to access video on NBC
Click image to access video on NBC

May 30 2014 ~ When NBC’s Brian Williams interviewed Ed Snowden in Moscow last week, one of Snowden’s most interesting statements was left on the cutting room floor.

Specifically, the following statement was cut from NBC’s broadcast Wednesday night:

Now, we have a system of pervasive, pre-criminal surveillance where the government wants to watch what you’re doing just to see what you’re up to, to see what you’re thinking, even behind closed doors.

Indeed, a government expert told the Washington Post that the government “quite literally can watch your ideas form as you type.” (And see this.) And British and U.S. intelligence agencies have been recording millions of webcam videos … many of them nude videos from inside people’s homes. Indeed, the government is spying on virtually everything we do.

Moreover, the NSA is working on building a “pre-crime” computer system that uses artificial intelligence and massive amounts of data to try to predict how every thinks and what everyone is likely to do.

As we reported last year:

The government is currently testing systems for use in public spaces which can screen for “pre-crime”. As Nature reports:

Like a lie detector, FAST measures a variety of physiological indicators, ranging from heart rate to the steadiness of a person’s gaze, to judge a subject’s state of mind. But there are major differences from the polygraph. FAST relies on non-contact sensors, so it can measure indicators as someone walks through a corridor at an airport, and it does not depend on active questioning of the subject.

CBS News points out:

FAST is designed to track and monitor, among other inputs, body movements, voice pitch changes, prosody changes (alterations in the rhythm and intonation of speech), eye movements, body heat changes, and breathing patterns. Occupation and age are also considered. A government source told CNET that blink rate and pupil variation are measured too.

A field test of FAST has been conducted in at least one undisclosed location in the northeast. “It is not an airport, but it is a large venue that is a suitable substitute for an operational setting,” DHS spokesman John Verrico told Nature.com in May.

Although DHS has publicly suggested that FAST could be used at airport checkpoints–the Transportation Security Administration is part of the department, after all–the government appears to have grander ambitions. One internal DHS document (PDF) also obtained by EPIC through the Freedom of Information Act says a mobile version of FAST “could be used at security checkpoints such as border crossings or at large public events such as sporting events or conventions.”

The risk of false positives is very real. As Computer World notes:

Tom Ormerod, a psychologist in the Investigative Expertise Unit at Lancaster University, UK, told Nature, “Even having an iris scan or fingerprint read at immigration is enough to raise the heart rate of most legitimate travelers.” Other critics have been concerned about “false positives.” For example, some travelers might have some of the physical responses that are supposedly signs of mal-intent if they were about to be groped by TSA agents in airport security.

Various “pre-crime” sensing devices have already been deployed in public spaces in the U.S.

The government has also worked on artificial intelligence for “pre-crime” detection on the Web. And given that programs which can figure out your emotions are being developed using your webcam, every change in facial expression could be tracked.

While the government pretends that such pre-crime monitoring is meant to prevent terrorism, the fact is that it is instead being used to crush dissent.

Sourced from WashingtonsBlog

5 thoughts on “Washington’s Blog ~ Government Engaging In Pre-Crime Monitoring And Analysis

  1. Hi, you have a very nice website here! I now check it first thing in the morning, in lieu of CNN!

    I am posting now in response to Rose above. I, too, bought into the Snowden mystique at first, and I do credit him with enlightening many people and getting them to start to question the status quo. However, I have since come across a lot of information that makes me think he is not who we think he is…starting with this article:

    http://pando.com/2014/02/28/pierre-omidyar-co-funded-ukraine-revolution-groups-with-us-government-documents-show/

    The author of this article, Mark Ames, was a partner of Matt Taibbi, one of the journalists hired by Pierre Omidyar (founder of eBay) to start an on-line digital magazine called ‘The Intercept.’ Other journalists recently hired by Mr. Omidyar include Glenn Greenawald and Laura Poitras, who broke the Snowden stories.

    If you read the article, you can see that Mr. Omidyar helped pay to co-fund the Ukrainian revolutionary groups, along with the US government. Now, is this something that an aspiring media baron should be doing?! And what does this reveal about Mr. Greenwald? Why would he knowingly work for someone who is currently involved directly in the overthrow of a foreign country (and he does acknowledge – and belittle – this fact in his blog).

    Even more interesting is this fact: Mr. Omidyar is an American. He has just hired the man who published the Snowden material, and is paying him to continue doing so. So, why is he not getting the same negative reaction and backlash by the American media and government that Mr. Snowden (and Greenwald) are getting? Why is he not being called a ‘traitor’ or worse, or being forced to turn over the information that his employee has to the government?

    I believe that what is going on with Mr. Snowden is a disinfo campaign to mislead and confuse those following world events. To what effect, you may ask? To that I would say: how many people who know anything about computers and how digital information works, would say they at least suspected much of what Snowden has revealed was going on all along? How much of what he revealed is really surprising (at least to those of us with a cynical bent!)?

    I think the reasons for his public outing of the NSA are these: one, to put the belief in people’s minds that their every move is watched at all times (fear); two, to divert attention away from the psychopaths in power who are actually running the show (bankers etc.) to some of their underlings; and three – what they are telling us is most likely a red herring. I suspect that, along with HAARP and other government projects that have gotten a lot of public attention, that their capabilities are FAR beyond anything that they are outing in the public…FAR beyond what we can imagine (ever hear of ‘spooky action at a distance?’).

    Then there is this: the PTB have always used the MSM as their main ‘mind control’ tool. They have mislead 90% of people for eons through the news they see fit to print. However, they know there will always be 10% who will be too much awake to buy the public pablum…so they preempt them by creating the opposition as well, and controlling things from that angle if needed. I believe that this is the case with the Snowden stories. They are interesting, engaging, and make thinking people think that ‘real change’ is now occurring…when what is really going on is subterfuge to keep people from seeing what the true goal is, which I believe, through what I have read, is the takeover of the world through financial means.

    One more little caveat: ever read the book ‘Catch 22?’ There is a character in that book by the name of Snowden. The parallels are interesting…

    Gah! I wrote an article!! Anyway, great site!!

    1. Thanks for your excellent comment concerning Snowden, Anthony. It is a fact that we’re in times right now requiring a great deal of discernment on our part. It does not serve the NSA or the US govt to have the extent of their treachery and disregard of the US Constitution promulgated on websites around the world. The fact that we are watched continually is not new – especially when one observes the proliferation of cameras everywhere. Yet the fact of the Snowden revelations remain. I believe there is more to Snowden than meets the eye. He tests parameters and belief systems, and that’s a fact. Blessings, g

  2. Gillian, as disturbing as is this information , even more so, is the barrage of anti-Snowden sentiment
    presently circulating on various alternative news sites.

    My discernment meter is on overdrive as much of the disinformation is playing out on sites that I have
    generally found to be trustworthy.

    As spiritual gurus have foretold, this obviously is a time in our evolution when decisions must truly be more from the heart than the mind…a tall order indeed.

    1. The anti-Snowden perspective was present prior to him stating he was a spy. That bit of info simply ignited the undercurrents and outright suspicions that were already present.

      You’re absolutely correct in your assessment re the need to listen from the heart, especially in this time of deceit and official lies.

      Thanks for commenting, Rose. hugs ~g

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