Military

DATE=11/03/01

TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT

TITLE=ANTI-TERRORISM TECHNOLOGY

NUMBER=5-50436

BYLINE=JESSICA BERMAN

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

CONTENT=

INTRO: Since the September 11th terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, security experts in the United States are looking at new and improved types of electronic surveillance. These include face recognition systems and so-called computer vision. But the sophisticated electronic surveillance techniques pose practical problems. And as V-O-A's Jessica Berman reports, they raise important questions about the rights of the people being watched.

TEXT: British writer George Orwell predicted the constant gaze of "Big Brother" in his classic, futuristic novel "1984." Cameras -- everywhere -- recorded every person's every move. Now, the events of September 11th may hasten the development and use of technologies like computer vision.

Stephen Maybank is a computer vision researcher at the University of Reading in Britain.

/// MAYBANK ACTUALITY 1 ///

For very particular tasks, for fine detection of movement, then a human observer will do a lot better. But the human observer can't keep up that level of attention for 24 hours, seven days a week.

/// END ACTUALITY ///

Unlike traditional surveillance cameras, computer vision would not simply capture and maintain images of people at airports or in stores. The system could have a database that compares an individual's movements to a "normal" range of movements programmed into the computer. So a person caught in the computer's eye moving too quickly - as if from a crime scene -- could be marked as suspicious.

Computer vision is not yet available on the market. But Mister Maybank says he expects more sophisticated systems to come on line within the next few years.

And then there is face recognition technology now being installed at a number of airports around the United States. The only data that is stored are the images of suspected terrorists. The faces of everyone else filter through the camera's gaze.

Barry Steinhardt is associate director of the American Civil Liberties Union in New York.

/// STEINHARDT ACTUALITY 1 ///

You know the first question before we introduce any new invasive technology into governmental use is 'will it make it safer?' 'Does it in fact work?' Face recognition technology is simply not up to snuff for the kinds of uses that have been proposed here.

/// END ACTUALITY ///

For one thing, Mister Steinhardt says it is not going to work as a tool to identify potential terrorists at airports.

/// STEINHARDT ACTUALITY 2 ///

We don't have a photographic database of terrorists to match up to. So, even if the technology was more reliable, there's nothing to do the match with. But beyond that, the technology is not terribly reliable. It has a high error rate. Both a high false positive rate and a false negative, meaning that the bad guys are going to get through and there are a lot of innocent people who are going to be fingered here as potential terrorists.

/// END ACTUALITY ///

Advocates of the new electronic surveillance technology -- such at the University of Reading's Stephen Maybank -- admit it is more intrusive of peoples' privacy.

/// MAYBANK ACTUALITY 2 ///

There will be a trade-off between the advantages and the disadvantages of these surveillance methods. And the exact point of trade off that one chooses must come out of discussion within society.

/// END ACTUALITY ///

In one example, Robert Freeman of the Committee on Open Government with the state of New York says New York City police installed closed circuit cameras to monitor activity in Washington Square Park 24-hours a day.

To Mister Freeman's surprise, area residents liked the cameras.

/// FREEMAN ACTUALITY ///

Why? Because we feel safe bringing our kids to the park. And the extent to which there is crime in an around the park has diminished.

/// END ACTUALITY ///

But several blocks away, crime increased.

Mister Freeman says another problem is the creation of massive video databases that most Americans -- by law -- are allowed to see. (Signed)

NEB/JB/JWH