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DARPA Developing 'Combat Zones That See'

Posted by timothy on from the carry-on-citizen dept.

t0rnt0pieces writes "DARPA is developing an urban surveillance system that would use computers and thousands of cameras to track, record and analyze the movement of every vehicle in a city. Officials claim that the project is designed to help the U.S. military protect troops and fight in cities overseas, but police, scientists and privacy experts say the technology could easily be adapted to spy on Americans. Combined with other technologies, such as software that scans databases of everyday transactions and personal records worldwide, the government would have a reasonably good idea of where everyone is most of the time. Read the news story and the contracting document."

10 of 333 comments (clear)

  1. Why not give everything an IP address by jkrise · · Score: 3, Funny

    Didn't DARPA invent the internet? So, let's start on IPv6 and give every object an IP address and a WiFi connectivity, and call it Secure Social Security or something like that. Problem solved!

    --
    If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
    1. Re:Why not give everything an IP address by BigBadDude · · Score: 3, Funny


      Cop: give me your SSN!
      dude: 10.1.1.23

  2. Great by Choco-man · · Score: 2, Funny

    Perhaps they'll be able to help me track those damn lost socks that keep allegedly disappearing in my dryer. Satellite tracking, cameras, computer databases - never again will I be forced to wear mismatched socks!

    1. Re:Great by cranos · · Score: 1, Funny

      And the likely hood of the majority of /. readers EVER and I mean EVER coming across this situation is probably slightly less that Linus and Bill having a love child together.

  3. Easy to counter by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 2, Funny

    The project's centerpiece is groundbreaking computer software that is capable of automatically identifying vehicles by size, color, shape and license tag, or drivers and passengers by face.

    Did you recognize that guy with round sunglasses who just went by on his bicycle ? well, that software didn't either ...

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
  4. Re:No kidding? by DirkDaring · · Score: 1, Funny
    experts say the technology could easily be adapted to spy on Americans

    Because of their amazingly huge butts, no doubt.

    The technology employs amazingly huge butts?

    Freaky.

  5. easy.... by da5idnetlimit.com · · Score: 4, Funny

    "U.S. is still considered by many here to be the Micorsoft-of-the-World"

    Britain plays the SCO Role...

    --
    It takes 40+ muscles to frown, but only four to extend your arm and bitchslap the motherfucker
  6. Re:But I thought the U.S. was bad! by loadquo · · Score: 1, Funny

    We only do it to ourselves.

  7. The irony is killing me! by AndroidCat · · Score: 2, Funny
    A post that drags out the old worn "Unless you're doing something illegal, .. you have very little to worry about."

    Posted by an Anonymous Coward. Bwahaha! What are you trying to hide Mr. Anonymous Coward? You must be guilty of something, so we'd better monitor you!

    --
    One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
  8. Just Americans? by Orlando · · Score: 3, Funny

    ..privacy experts say the technology could easily be adapted to spy on Americans.

    So being Enlgish I'd be like completely invisible? Cool.

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    -= This is a self-referential sig =-