Database Your Face: Drones to Employ Facial Recognition, Ending AnonymityNicholas West A recent Associated Press article, reposted at major corporate media sites such as Business Insider, surprisingly grasps the near totality of what is being planned in much the same way as we have been covering in the alternative media for some time. Entitled, Drones With Facial Recognition Technology Will End Anonymity, Everywhere, we are presented with this news as a statement, not a question. The AP is in fact a bit behind the curve to suggest that the capabilities they highlight, are to be sure in its infancy when we have documents obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) which reveal that the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection is already operating drones in the United States capable of recognizing a person on the ground.Or how about the fact that drones can already see inside your bedroom? Wireds Danger Room reported back in 2011 that not only were drones with facial recognition in development, but also algorithms that could predict behavior. Rather, what we are witnessing with this news from AP is the mainstream rollout and conditioning of the public to what is already here and what is about to become even more pervasive. Once that is accomplished, we can expect the spin machine to go into overdrive and justify the wonders of constant surveillance, as they attempted to do in the Chris Dorner manhunt. Naturally, the AP peddles this softly as it recounts these new developments in a tale of researchers with Carnegie Mellon Universitys CyLab Biometrics Center attempting to assist in sharpening FBI images of Boston bombing suspects, the Tsarnaev brothers. This is reminiscent of the above-mentioned Chris Dorner manhunt where we heard calls for how nice it would have been to have a drone at the ready for quicker identification and possible assassination. This astonishment is somewhat absurd considering that drones have already been developed that are equipped with camera systems like DARPAs Autonomous Real-time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance Imaging System (ARGUS)seen in the video below. This sensor system can instantly see an area roughly the size of a small city with an all-seeing eye according to retired Lieutenant, David A. Deptula. The next generation of surveillance tech sees the landscape through a 1.8 billion pixels camera, the highest resolution yet created. Using a touchscreen interface that can produce up to 65 windows for analysis, military observers can see down to the individual object level to track the movements of vehicles and people. Beyond the real-time surveillance, the system can store everything for future review right down to the minutes and seconds. Other programs such as Minds Eye and Gorgon Stare have already been admitted by the military to be able to see everything. The only thing truly new about this AP story is the announcement that what most people thought to be limited to overseas theaters of war will now definitely be used across Battlefield USA. And researchers are breathless with excitement about how facial recognition technology will be used to decode the face. Perhaps that specific technology is not used militarily or for police work in America, but the use of biometrics overseas to identify and match among a database has been used extensively in Afghanistanand Iraq. And with the biometric push in America surrounding everything from immigration to trendy new apps, our anonymity is a hairs breadth from becoming a myth as it is. Does anyone really believe that the full capabilities posited as in development by the establishment media arent currently on the shelf for full rollout when the right crisis arises inside the United States? The AP reminds us about what is being envisioned byDepartment of Defenses Biometrics Identity Management Agency: An off-handed dismissal/conclusion to all of this is offered by the AP to anyone who might be worried that this tech could get out of hand . . . as if it hasnt already: Unless states get serious about banning drones from their skies, as well as protecting each persons biometrics as private property, the entire U.S. will start to look like Bloombergs New York, where pervasive databasing and surveillance of citizens becomes something that well just have to get used to. Add the potential forautonomous dronesandinsect-sized drone swarmsthat can stay aloft nearly indefinitely, surveiling, and even killing targets, and we are just about at the endgame where humanity has completely lost its mind by deferring to computerized machines with weapons to keep them safe. To see the future of pervasive surveillance and detection right down to the nano-level, please read, How Close Are We to a Nano-based Surveillance State? Imagine this type of surveillance linked to all known databases. This is a crucial issue that we must speak out about immediately. Contact your local police department and educate them about what is coming. Remind them that they and their families, too, will be put under this digital nightmare surveillance state. Urge them not to cooperate with federal directives to make this become a reality. Also contact your state officials and tell them not to succumb to the economic incentives to become a drone testing site, as states like South Carolina and others have done. Main article source: Read other articles by Nicholas West Here 