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Olympics to Have Massive Surveillance Network
sharkdba writes "CNN has an article about Olympic digital security. This should be of interest to /. readers since it's a supposedly largest surveillance network ever. Thousands of cameras are combined with software (AI agents?) to look for anomalies. Also words are parsed (scan equivalent to OCR). I understand the idea that if you're in public expect no privacy, but even CNN says: 'Although the state's right to take all necessary measures that it deems necessary is recognized, there is fear that these measures will have a negative impact on basic human rights.'"
1.5bn cost versus 3,000,000 tickets sold = $500 per spectator spent in security.
How are these Games supposed to make money?
There is very little you can do to stop fanatics who are willing to die.
I was in Boston during the DNC. The security was an absolute joke. Anyone could have gotten on the public transport system or rented a large truck and blown up a low-value (but still prominent) target.
There is really nothing that can be done in a free society. They're gonna' get us.
It's probably a blessing in disguise that Athens took so long to finish preparations for the olympics. Since it is said Al Qaeda spends years preparing for an attack, I don't think anything big will happen at the olympics. That's also the kind of thing a bunch of cameras won't do shit against.
Quid festinatio swallonis est aetherfuga inonusti?
Africus aut Europaeus?
...it would make more economic sense to not admit anyone, CGI the crowds in for broadcast, and pocket the 1.3B you didn't spend on security.
I forget what 8 was for.
Basically $1.5bn dollars was what the games were supposed to cost. That was sort of covered by the European Union, Sponsors, and Greece. The final cost was closer to a $3bn price, due to the mismanagement and the corruption of the previous government.
That extra $1.5bn is going straight to the taxpayers.. I expect that my country will not be able to get over this debt for the next 25 years.
Still, I expect that no foreigner can understand how much to these games mean to us. I am greatly looking forward to them!!!
PS: It also goes without saying that all the greek construction companies will be doomed on the post-olympics era since no major projects are going to take place in the forthcoming years...
You cannot have both a free society and be free from terrorist attacks. It is impossible. The more "security" you add the more Orwellian your government becomes.
A balence must be struck. And IMO it should be struck further toward "freedom" than it is being currently.
Some food for thought:
Dorothy Thompson:
"When liberty is taken away by force it can be restored by force. When it is relinquished voluntarily by default it can never be recovered."
John Adams:
"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty."
Wendell Phillips:
"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."
And the ever popular Benjamin Franklin:
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security"
Check out this Bruce Schneier interview from Newsweek where he talks about real security vs security theatre. He basically says that surveillance, ID cards etc just provide an illusion of security (especially when limited to only a few sites: secure the olympic statium and they'll bomb the subway, or the CBD, or the stock exchange etc). Real security in the context of terrorism comes from better intelligence gathering and better spooks.
Vino, gyno, and techno -Bruce Sterling
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