NYC Surveillance Camera News

Surveillance Camera News November 2001

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November Index

DC Area Leaders Work To Improve Crisis Management
Parks Look to Surveillance Devices
Someone Is Watching You
Someone Is Watching You, Part 2
ACLU Blasts Facial Recognition System
Red-light plan for Pa. is criticized
Special Report-Security trumps privacy, online and off
Spy vs. Spy: Device Takes Hidden Cameras Out of Hiding
Facial recognition technology approved at Va. Beach
List (Countries Who Utilize Traffic Cameras)
Manhattan DOT CCTV Locations
Translation Fun Big Brother is watching

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Local - WJLA
Wednesday November 21 06:16 PM EST

DC Area Leaders Work To Improve Crisis Management

Regional leaders are stepping up efforts to improve coordination and
communication in case there's another emergency like on September eleventh.

The Council of Governments' Transportation Planning Board today approved
the idea of developing a plan to improve communication and coordination among
17 local jurisdictions.

A draft plan envisions transportation agencies in DC, Virginia and Maryland,
plus the National Park Service, designating point people who would contact
other agencies in a crisis, and coordinate rail and roadway traffic. One of the
agencies would then contact the media.

The plan also calls for backup communications systems, installing 750 surveillance
cameras on transportation systems, more message boards on roadways, and conducting
emergency drills within the next two years. The total estimated cost: half a billion dollars.

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Parks Look to Surveillance Devices
Friday November 16

Theme Parks Look to Surveillance Devices Since Sept. 11

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press Writer

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Amusement parks have looked to crime-fighting fantasy
heroes as inspiration for its rides. Now they are turning with greater frequency to
another character since the Sept. 11 attacks: Big Brother.

More and more parks are considering installing cameras and other surveillance
devices, not only to find lost children but to alert operators to potential threats.

Two vendors at the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions
convention in Orlando Thursday were encountering unusual interest in their
surveillance and monitoring products.

Newton, Mass.-based MetaSignal Inc.'s technology can track visitors in a park using
video cameras and transponders. Laguna Hills-Calif.-based SafeTzone Technologies
Corp. has technology that can track visitors in a park through a wristwatch they wear.

Since the attacks, MetaSignal has had three parks express interest in its technology.
SafeTzone has had two dozen inquiries from parks, hotels and security consultants
since the attacks.

``Before September 11th, I think people would be very offended to think that they
could be tracked in a theme park,'' said Feng Chi Wang, MetaSignal's president.
``People are more giving now in terms of their civil liberties.''

Some attendees at the amusement park convention said the industry should be wary
about embracing such technology.

``If everyone is under suspicion, then who will be harassed unnecessarily?'' said
Arnold Tang, a theme park consultant from Stanford, Calif. ``We will be providing
negative experiences and that's unacceptable in a theme park experience.''

Both MetaSignal and SafeTzone developed their technologies for purposes other than
security. MetaSignal wanted to provide souvenir DVD images of a visitor's day in the
park. SafeTzone wanted a way that parents and children could keep track of each
other if they separated.

MetaSignal is currently looking for a park to test its technology. The cost could start at
$30,000.

SafeTzone installed its technology at the Wild Rivers water park in Irvine, Calif., for
$275,000 last August. It also is in Buffalo Bill's Casino and Resort in Nevada. Visitors
can rent the wristwatches at the water park. At the casino, only security guards wear
the watches, not visitors.

With the MetaSignal technology, visitors would be given palm-sized transponders
when they enter the park. Through video cameras stationed throughout the park and
antennas that pick up the transponders signals, the visitor's video image could be
tracked alongside the visitor's transponder signal.

If a security guard wanted to find a lost child or track where a suspicious person had
been, the guard could input their transponder number into a computer and pull up
images of where they had been.

The technology could also be used for souvenirs. Computer kiosks in the park would
allow visitors to download their images for the day on a DVD or print them out.

``It's being put out there as a security system that can produce revenue,'' said Rakeim
J. Hadley, MetaSignal's spokesman.

At Wild Rivers, guests can rent a wristwatch that sends out and responds to radio
frequency. When a family enters the park, their wristwatches can be scanned into a
computer system as a group; only members of the group can locate each other.
Thirty-four antennas scattered throughout the park can pick up and transmit signals
from the wristwatches.

Group members can locate each other at three computer kiosks which display a map
of the park and the location of the people in their group.

``After September 11th, it went from a 'nice to have' to a 'must have,''' said Greg
Giraldin, director of corporate sales for SafeTzone.

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Monday November 12 09:57 PM EST

Someone Is Watching You

Imagine a world where everywhere you go you're watched by the government.
Sounds like science fiction. But in Great Britain, they're catching terrorists and
other crooks, thanks to millions of government cameras. As you'll see,
it's a trade-off between protecting our cities and protecting our privacy.

Special Assignment reporter Joel Grover went to London to find out more about
surveillance system.

Special Assignment: "Someone Is Watching You" aired Sunday, Nov. 11 2001 at 11 p.m.

People come from all over to take in the sights and sounds of London, and to take
pictures of the spectacular city. What they don't know is that they're being
photographed too, by millions of surveillance cameras that can pan across the city and
zoom into every face. Cameras that are a fact of life for most Londoners, like pub
manager David Moorely.

"To be honest, half the time you don't even realize you're being filmed," he said.
Stopping terrorists is how it all began. Back in the early 90s, the Irish Republican Army
was exploding car bombs across London, including one that blew out blocks of London's
Financial District, known as The City.

Police took action and wired up the city with CCTV, Closed Circuit TV cameras on every
corner that keep an eye on every street, every tunnel, every back alley, and even rooftops.
"So if you come into our area, you will be filmed, you will be seen," said Inspector Paul
Rouse with the City of London Police.

It's kind of a strange feeling here in London, when you start to realize that every step
you take is being recorded by cameras, which can watch you from behind and can zoom
in on you from several blocks away.

In fact, every car entering the city has its license plates shot by cameras, and instantly
run through a national criminal database. If a match comes up, it triggers an alarm at
the police station.

It turns out the cameras catch terrorists, and common criminals. On this
day, officer Ann Lloyd is in pursuit of a possible stolen car. It's a car chase,
London-style "It's southbound, southbound ... the car's going for it, so all unit's
get down there and stop it," Lloyd said.

But the cameras help the cops quickly cut off the car. And within minutes, another
car sets off an alarm because the registered driver is a suspect in an assault.
And across the room, they've spotted yet another stolen car. The driver is
questioned, the car is searched and police find a long knife.

The driver is handcuffed and taken away -- just one of the reported 700 arrests
a year due to the cameras. "If you're out committing a crime, we'll film you and
we'll use it against you," authorities told CBS2 News.

The British are so crazy about their cameras, they're even installing them on
London's famous double-decker buses. There will be one on the upper deck
and two on the lower levels to keep a watchful eye on bus riders.

And CCTV is now turning up in hundreds of smaller British cities, like Newham,
east of London, the first town to have cameras with face recognition technology.
The cameras scan faces on the street and feed them into a database to see if any
match a list of local criminals.

"Now, if I think that's a match I will let the police know," said Bob Lack, who runs
Newham's camera system. "The best technology against the street criminals was to
say 'we may have got your face," he said.

Two summers ago, bombs hidden inside gym bags blew up in three London
neighborhoods, including one inside a pub in Soho, right near bartender David Moorley.

"I've never seen so much blood," Moorley said. "I had a goatee beard at the time, which melted.
I just remember standing there, thinking do I live or do I die?"

Three people died, 60 were injured, and London police had no suspects, until they
looked at CCTV tapes and spotted a man carrying a gym bag outside all three
locations that had been bombed.

He was even taped buying fireworks used to make the bombs. The cops were able to catch
their bomber, a white supremacist named David Copeland, thanks to cameras on every corner.

"It's a shame we have to live that way, but there will always be someone out there that
will want to do wrong," Moorley said.

And in London's financial district, the cameras seem to be stopping the I.R.A. car bombers.
"We had two vehicle bombs in 92 and 93, and we haven't had one since."
What's happening in Britain could be a glimpse into our future. Police have already
installed cameras to watch parts of Tampa, Fla., and they've done it in Baltimore as well.

And after Sept. 11, Los Angeles decided to install cameras to watch the blocks around City Hall.
"America will have between 6 and 7 million cameras in five years," said one of Britain's leading
privacy experts has a warning for america...
"If you go down the road of this technology, you will change your society forever."

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Tuesday November 13 03:05 AM EST

Someone Is Watching You, Part 2

What is more important: Protecting your privacy, or protecting our cities from terrorists?

Cities like Los Angeles are now installing surveillance cameras to catch terrorists and
criminals. It's an idea used successfully in England for years. But catching terrorists
comes with a price, as CBS2 News' Joel Grover discovered when he went on Special
Assignment in Great Britain.

Special Assignment: "Someone Is Watching You, Part
2" aired Monday, Nov. 12 2001 at 11 p.m.

America is already wiring itself up to combat crime and terrorism, but you're about to
see how government cameras aimed at terrorists often end up targeting innocent,
ordinary citizens. It can happen when someone is watching you.

What if everywhere you went in Los Angeles, you were watched and videotaped by government cameras? Hard
to imagine? Not to people in England, where the government keeps an eye on streets, subways, parking lots and
shopping malls with nearly three million surveillance cameras -- and most people don't seem to mind.

Like Stan Cormack and his pals at the Newham Pub, which is watched by cameras from the outside and the
inside, don't seem to mind.

"I don't mind being watched at all," Cormack said. "Why should I? I'm not doing nothing wrong."

Britain began installing cameras on every corner to catch terrorists -- especially Irish Republican Army terrorists,
who had killed and injured scores of people with car bombs. In cities like Newham, east of London, they
promised the cameras would also catch street criminals.

"Your muggers, your street robbers, your handbag snatchers," an officer told Grover.

But Special Assignment discovered that Newham is now aiming its cameras at ordinary citizens, who haven't
committed crimes. We noticed one officer using the cameras to spot cars that are illegally parked.

"They will issue a ticket on a vehicle that is parked where it shouldn't basically be," the officer said. "It's no
different than having evidence of a crime. What we've got is a parked vehicle that sits on a yellow line."

Camera operators can even zoom in to your car registration to see if it's expired. The power of the lens is what
worries privacy experts, like Simon Davies, who has studied Britain's camera systems. "I suspect what's going to
happen in America is that the cameras will be used in ways that you have never intended," Davies said.

America is starting to wire itself up. It started with privately run cameras at places like shopping centers. Then the
government began putting cameras in places like airports, the kind that caught terrorist Muhammed Atta on tape.
Now, cameras are watching the streets, like those about to be installed outside Los Angeles City Hall.

"The cameras invite discrimination and prejudice and hatred and voyeurism," Davies said.

That's also the conclusion of two major university studies in Britain.

"We have sat there and watched as camera operators have tracked young women just because they're young
women," Davies said. "Who have targeted minority groups such as blacks because they're blacks."

The cameras have caught their share of criminals, like the killers of 2-year-old Ames Bulger, who were seen on
tape leading him away from a shopping mall, just before he was murdered. Or the man who planted bombs in
three London neighborhoods and was caught on tape buying the explosives, then carrying those bombs in gym
bags to all three targets.

"When we install a closed-circuit television system in the area that we install it, we get an immediate drop off of
about 30 percent in the crime rate," a British police officer said.

But the cameras of London are not foolproof, Grover said. Sometimes, a criminal can avoid getting caught by the
police by simply covering his head from the cameras -- like the IRA terrorist who planted a car bomb in London
this summer. Surveillance cameras spotted him, but he was wearing a hat that disguised him and he's still at large.

"Cameras are dumb pieces of technology. In the end, people are smarter," Davies said.

But the cameras in Britain keep multiplying, because most British people believe
in them and can't imagine why America isn't as wired England. Surveillance
cameras aren't the only way Britain has successfully fought terrorism.
The British now have some of the best airport security in the world.

Tuesday night at 11 p.m. on CBS2 News, Joel Grover will have a rare,
behind-the-scenes look at airport security -- the way it should be -- and how British
airports could teach LAX a few lessons about stopping terrorists.

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Red-light plan for Pa. is criticized
Tuesday, November 13, 2001

By Barbara Boyer
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

A national motorists organization wants to put the brakes on a plan by Pennsylvania
politicians to heavily fine drivers caught on camera running red lights.

"The real problem is the fleecing of the public," said Jerry McBride, the Pennsylvania
representative for the National Motorists Association, a group that monitors traffic safety.
"Nobody wants anybody to run a red light, but let's not fleece the public."

State and local officials attended a hearing last week at Philadelphia City Hall on
a plan to install surveillance cameras at major intersections where motorists often
run red lights. The cameras take a photo of the car's license plate, generating a
ticket to the car's owner and a fine of up to $100.

Five states, including New Jersey, have banned the use of such technology. At
least 45 cities nationwide, including New York, Washington and Los Angeles,
are using it.

In Philadelphia, the plan was first proposed by City Councilman Frank Rizzo.
State Rep. George Kenney (R., Philadelphia) introduced state legislation this month.

McBride and other critics are concerned that the cameras are used to generate
municipal revenue. U.S. House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R., Texas) has spoken
on the issue nationally, saying that states where the cameras are used have created
an unfair tax.

In New York, officials reported that they have collected $8 million to $9 million a
year in fines. But before Philadelphia can project how much could be generated,
a study must be done to determine how many intersections would have such cameras.

The American Civil Liberties Union is among the critics, noting privacy and
due-process concerns.

While several groups have vowed to fight the legislation, there has been strong support
from law enforcement officials across Pennsylvania (including Philadelphia Police Commissioner
John F. Timoney), the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, and numerous other organizations.

Authorities say cities that have used the system have reduced the running of red lights by more
than 60 percent at some intersections and significantly decreased fatalities caused by red-light
runners.

Red-light runners killed 16 people in the city last year and 4,782 people were injured in 3,310
crashes. In Pennsylvania, 38 people were killed and 9,000 were injured in 7,480 accidents.
Nationally, about 250 people are killed by red-light runners, who cause more than 250,000
crashes each year.

Lt. Patrick Burke of the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department reported there
has been a 63 percent reduction in red-light running at the 39 intersections that use cameras
and a significant decrease in fatalities caused by red-light runners. The program, he said, is
"a classic win-win."

The motorists association, however, suggests that roads could be safer if design flaws were
fixed at intersections and traffic control signals worked properly. One answer, the group says,
would be increasing the length of time of yellow lights, which should not be less than four
seconds.

"If we fix the engineering problems with the intersections that have a high rate of red-light
violations, you will see a drastic reduction in violations and accidents," McBride said,
suggesting that officials could try that before installing cameras.

Larry Frankel, Pennsylvania ACLU executive director, told the committee that the program
poses a threat to privacy and "undermines due process."

Frankel said the system assumes that the driver is guilty and puts the burden on the owner
of a vehicle to prove otherwise. To challenge the technology in court, he said, would be far
more costly than paying the fine.

In San Diego, a judge threw out nearly 300 tickets in a class-action lawsuit, ruling that the
evidence was unreliable because the program is privately run, and the company is paid
through a percentage of fines collected.

Philadelphia City Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown said that she initially was
skeptical but that she had changed her mind.

"In a perfect world, we would not need cameras to catch and deter people from running
lights," she said. "However, I have come to the conclusion that if a camera that is taking
a snapshot of someone who is breaking the law will save lives and diminish injuries, then
it is something we must do."

Barbara Boyer's e-mail address is bboyer@phillynews.com.

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Monday November 12, 4:31 pm Eastern Time

Special Report-Security trumps privacy, online and off

By Eric Auchard

NEW YORK, Nov 12 (Reuters) - The Statue of Liberty stands gracefully alone in New York
Harbor, averting her gaze like many New Yorkers from the ghastly site of what was once the World
Trade Center.

The statue, a symbol of America's open society, is closed to visitors for now, a
victim of the trade-off between personal freedoms and domestic security -- a
trade-off that has far-reaching implications for the technology industry.

Some firms have seized on Sept. 11 to tout a range of surveillance technologies,
from national ID cards, to facial and fingerprint recognition systems, and database
systems capable of culling through millions of records at high speed.

And many people seem resigned to monitoring of their Internet use in the same
way that they accept curtailed freedoms in everyday life.

Around New York, police stop-and-search line-ups for automobiles traveling via
bridges or tunnels are familiar, if not completely reassuring. Fall's most popular
fashion accessory in midtown Manhattan is the company identification cards office
workers must sport to enter their buildings.

Across the country, not just airport baggage check-in counters but entrances to
skyscrapers, libraries and government agencies have taken the air of frontline
security zones following the September attacks and the war in Afghanistan.

``There's no probable cause for these stop-and-search missions, but few are
complaining,'' Guylyn Cummins, a San Diego-based constitutional law attorney with
Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich, said of the sudden focus on physical security.

``Given the gravity of what happened, in some ways I think this is a different era,''
Cummins said. ``You have unknown terrorists rather than a normal war or some
other sort of crisis,'' she said.

SECURITY CONCERNS OVERWHELM PRIVACY PROTECTIONS

``Everything has changed'' also has become the mantra among politicians and media
pundits seeking to explain the change of climate after Sept. 11 and demanding actions
to address free-floating security phobias many citizens say they feel.

Privacy obsessions have gone into a hasty hibernation. Some issues, like the furor
over cookies that allow Web surfing habits to be monitored, seem very small when
viewed through the lens of Sept. 11.

``The new type of privacy issues are actually turning out to the same old concerns
against unreasonable search-and-seizure by the government,'' said Ari Schwartz,
associate director for Washington, D.C.-based Center for Democracy and Technology,
a civil liberties advocacy group focused on Internet issues.

For much of the past ten years, U.S. privacy advocates had focused on winning greater
protections in the commercial privacy sphere, believing many issues of government
intrusion had been put to rest during privacy battles of the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

But with the Age of Vigilance becoming a fact of life in the United States, the old issues
are hot again.

Larry Ellison of Oracle Corp. (NasdaqNM:ORCL - news) was the first to renew the push for
national ID cards, suggesting his company's database software should be used.
Sun Microsystems Inc's (NasdaqNM:SUNW - news) Scott McNealy soon followed.
Last Wednesday, Siebel Systems Inc. (NasdaqNM:SEBL - news) announced ``Homeland
Security'' software.

``There are proposals for national ID cards which no politician was willing to discuss publicly
before Sept. 11,'' said Robert Ellis Smith, a lawyer, author, publisher of Privacy Journal and
privacy advocate active since the 1970s.

``Any privacy objections to video surveillance have been muted. Face-recognition technology
has become more popular,'' Smith said of calls for use of such technology in airports,
government agencies and company workplaces.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR, CRITICS CHIDE

Such surveillance takes a page from British experience, where hundreds of thousands of
closed-circuit televisions have been installed over the years to probe for speeding traffic offenders,
petty criminals, even possible terror bombers.

President George W. Bush signed the USA Patriot Act on Oct. 26, designed to give U.S. police the
powers to track down possible terrorists and prevent future attacks. The law allows authorities to
browse educational, library and medical data as well as travel, credit and immigration records.

Civil liberties critics howl that the act strips authority from judicial authorities at a time of crisis,
and harks back to The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, criminal restrictions on speech during
World War I and Cold War domestic spying.

The act expands use of wiretapping and Internet monitoring, giving the government access
to personal data records and allowing for secret searches. Some laws expire after four years,
unless renewed, others remain in force unless amended.

The law shifts the legal balance in favor of police powers that may help thwart further attacks
on U.S. institutions and civilians, but could also weaken rights protecting racial minorities,
immigrants, prisoners and students, critics say.

``Debate on these issues is more alive outside of the U.S. than in the U.S. -- that's unusual in
one sense, since Americans are usually more conscious of their rights in the face of government
power than most other people,'' said Tim Dixon, chairman of the Australia
Privacy Commission.

Meanwhile, the European Commission says provisions within European Union laws already
allow governments to bypass normal privacy laws when national security is at stake. But in
the wake of Sept. 11, EU leaders have hastened a range of legislative measures to combat terrorism,
including a common definition of terrorism and terrorist acts, tougher rules on money laundering and
an EU-wide search and arrest warrant.

British politicians have called for Internet service providers to store up to six months of traffic data
on each Net user in case the police come calling for it during a criminal probe. Other European
politicians are pushing similar plans.

Civil libertarians and human rights workers worry that the actions being taken in the U.S. and
other Western countries will give a green light to more authoritarian regimes around the world
to step up repression of their own populations.

``Now the U.S. and other Western countries are trying to catch up to the security policies of
countries that have authoritarian regimes,'' cautioned Jagdish Parikh, a New York-based
online researcher for Human Rights Watch.

``Whatever debate takes place, and whatever the outcome, the impact on other countries,
where the rule of law and open access and freedom of speech are less strong, must be
calculated,'' Parikh said.

In New York, the Statue of Liberty, a little more than a mile across the water from
``ground zero,' ' is closed to the public until unspecified security issues can be ironed out.

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Spy vs. Spy: Device Takes Hidden Cameras Out of Hiding

By Lou Hirsh,

As surveillance mini-cameras become more common in homes and businesses, the next phase of the consumer-oriented spy
game has apparently begun. A San Diego-based company says its new handheld product, called "SpyFinder," can scan an
area and instantly tell the user if there's a hidden camera nearby.

Martin Kleckner III, president of SpyFinder LLC, told TechExtreme that his company's product
has been in development for three years and already has been used by the U.S. Defense
Department, as well as other government and law enforcement agencies, foreign embassies and
private investigators.

Kleckner said consumers will find the technology useful as a defense against increasing threats
to privacy in the home and public areas of businesses. He pointed to industry figures projecting
sales of surveillance cameras will hit US$5.7 billion this year, and the rising number of Web
sites dedicated to hidden-camera sales or video voyeurism.

Laser Detection Technology

The 8-ounce, battery-powered SpyFinder, expected to be available to consumers in January,
uses proprietary optics and laser technology. Kleckner said it emits an invisible detection beam
that spots hidden still or video cameras from as far as 50 feet away.

The device can find any camera regardless of whether the camera is turned on,
and can also locate cameras hidden in briefcases, boxes or similar containers,
according to the company.

The user looks through a viewfinder that appears similar to a small telescope. When
the location beam detects the presence of a camera, the camera's lens reflects back
as a flashing dot in the SpyFinder's viewer.

Privacy Aid

Kleckner said the company's main target audience is consumers who want to ensure
they are getting privacy in places such as hotel rooms, restrooms, store fitting rooms,
locker rooms and private offices.

It could also help companies protect information by scanning corporate boardrooms
for hidden cameras. "We expect that celebrities will be interested in this, and athletes
may also want it," Kleckner said.

Responding to Critics

In the current state of heightened security arising from the September 11th terrorist attacks, Kleckner said his company has
been fending off criticisms that the technology could be misused if it ends up in the wrong hands. But he said the SpyFinder
will not hinder surveillance of suspicious activity in public places.

"Now, some people are saying that by making this type of technology available, you're helping the bad guys; you're helping
the terrorists. But that's not the case," Kleckner said.

"By the time you've detected the camera, law enforcement has already seen you on the camera," he added. "The SpyFinder is
not going to help the bad guys."

'Peace of Mind'

Kleckner said the device is intended to help consumers ensure they are not being watched in places where they should
reasonably expect privacy. If they find a hidden camera, they can choose to cover it, file a complaint or take other action.

"I'm not preaching paranoia. What we're looking at here is having peace of mind," Kleckner said. "With this device, I can
know there's a camera, and I can intervene and decide what to do."

Kleckner said retail arrangements are not yet finalized, but the device is expected to be priced between $189 and $250.

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ACLU Blasts Facial Recognition System

By JAY LINDSAY, Associated Press Writer

BOSTON (AP) - The American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites)
says it knows how to foil the high-tech face recognition systems that have
been proposed for airports in Boston and other cities as part of the effort to
catch suspected terrorists.

Smile, wear a hat, don sunglasses - they all do the trick, the ACLU said.

``It will let terrorists by,'' said Stephen Brown, executive director of the
ACLU of Rhode Island. ``It will harass innocent people.''

But while the group argues that the system gives a false sense of security, industry officials say it can
spot criminals - without violating anyone's basic rights.

The technology, called biometrics, is being tested at Boston's Logan Airport and will be installed at
T.F. Green Airport in Providence. It is already in use in Iceland's Keflavik Airport and Toronto's
Pearson International Airport.

``It's premature to take a potentially effective security means off the table,'' said Jose Juves, a
spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs Logan Airport.

Biometrics, created at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (news - web sites), has been used to
provide security at such places as casinos and automatic teller machines. The airport facial recognition
system uses a computer to compare facial images captured on camera with faces of suspected
criminals in a database.

Tom Colatosti, president and CEO of Viisage, a biometrics company working with both Logan and
T.F. Green, has said that an airport can install an ``adequate'' face-recognition system for about $1
million.

Barry Steinhardt, associate director at the ACLU's national office, argued that the money should be
used for other improvements that have been proven to work.

A security consultant hired by the ACLU to test the system, Richard Smith, was able to reduce the
odds of being recognized by the system simply by hiding his eyes, smiling or wearing a hat, the ACLU
said Wednesday.

A broader fear expressed by the ACLU, and shared by conservatives including House Majority
Leader Dick Armey, is that the government will use biometrics to monitor law-abiding citizens.

But Colatosti said the technology doesn't retain images of people who aren't identified on the
databases. He also said it is neutral to race and gender, and no more intrusive than an alarmed metal
detector.

``Like any system, it certainly can be beaten,'' he said. ``That's why it doesn't give you a false sense of
security. It's a tool in the overall scheme of things.''

Frances Zelazny, spokeswoman for biometrics company Visionics, said people can be asked to take
off sunglasses or look into cameras to make sure the system isn't easily circumvented.

``As long as we can see the face, we've proven to be effective,'' she said.

Officials at T.F. Green said they aren't expecting the system to solve all security problems. They also
said they plan to closely scrutinize its effectiveness.

``If it doesn't perform, we won't pay for it,'' said Mike Cheston, executive director of the Rhode
Island Airport Corporation.

On the Net:

Visionics: http://www.visionics.com/

Viisage: http://www.viisage.com/

American Civil Liberties Union: http://www.aclu.org/

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Facial recognition technology approved at Va. Beach
7:45 p.m. November 13, 2001

Facial recognition technology will be coming to the Virginia Beach
oceanfront.

All but one council member voted to approve the program Tuesday
night.

It uses cameras to scan people on the street and in crowds and
compares faces to ones in a computer database of suspected
criminals.

Support for the technology
increased after the September 11
terrorist attacks, particularly once it
was learned that some of the
suspected hijackers spent time in
Virginia Beach.

Some tourists, citizens and council
members called the system an
invasion of privacy.

Others said you have nothing to
fear if you have nothing to hide.

The police chief says the program
will cost $200,000. He said
$150,000 of that cost would be
picked up by a state grant.

That leaves $50,000 to be paid out of city coffers.

Beach police have been using closed-circuit tv cameras to watch the oceanfront since 1993,
mostly for checking traffic and crowds.

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The Following 75 Countries Utilize Traffic Cameras

AbuDhabiAlgeria
AndorraAngola
Argentina Australia
Austria Bahrain
BelgiumBrazil
Brunei Bulgaria
CameroonCanada
ChileChina
Costa RicaDenmark
Dubai Egypt Finland
France Germany
Greece Hong Kong
Hungary India
IndonesiaIran
Israel ItalyIvory Coast
JapanJordan
KoreaKuwait
LibyaLuxembourg
Macao Madagascar
MalaysiaMexico
MoroccoNetherlands
AntillesNew Zealand
NigeriaNorway
PakistanPoland
PortugalPuerto Rico
Republic of Gabon
Republic of South Africa
RomaniaRussia
Saudi Arabia
SerbiaSharjah
SingaporeSlovakia
SpainSultanate of Oman
SurinameSweden
SwitzerlandSyria
TaiwanTunisia
TurkeyUnited Arab Emirates
United KingdomU.S.A.
VenezuelaIreland

Source: American Traffic Systems
http://www.atstraffic.com/camera/default.htm

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Manhattan Information
There are 37 cameras installed in key traffic points around Manhattan
Streaming Video Camera Locations

2 Ave @ 36 St-Midtown Tunnel
2 Ave @ QBB (btwn 59 & 60 Street)
5 Ave @ 42 Street
6 Ave @ 34 Street
8 Ave @ Columbus Cr
Amsterdam Ave @ 178 Street
Bowery @ Canal Street
Broadway @ 46 Street
Brooklyn Bridge @ Centre Street
FDR DR @ Catherine St

Still Image Camera Locations

5 Ave @ 23 Street
5 Ave @ 49 Street
6 Ave @ 42 Street
6 Ave @ 49 Street
6 Ave @ Canal Street
7 Ave @ 125 Street
7 Ave @ 145 Street
8 Ave @ 34 Street
8 Ave @ 42 Street
8 Ave @ 110 Street
9 Ave @ 34 Street
11 Ave @ 42 Street
Amsterdam Ave @ 181 St
Broadway @ 169 St
Central Park S @ Columbus Cr
Central Park W @ 96 St
Church Street @ Vesey
E 57 Street @ QBB (btwn 1 & 2 Ave)
E 63 Street @ QBB (btwn 1 & 2 Ave)
FDR Dr @ 36 Street
FDR Dr @ 78 Street
FDR Dr @ 96 Street
FDR @ 135 St
FDR Dr @ Old Slip
Riverside Dr @ 135 St-H Hudson Pkwy
Riverside Dr @ 153 St-H Hudson Pkwy
Trinity @ Brooklyn Battery Tunnel

source: d.o.t. website

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Translation Fun

Big Brother is watching
Le Grand Fr�re vous surveille
bhai ki nazar me mat chado
Storebror ser dig
St�ri beiggi ansar eftir
Mae'r Brawd Mawr yn gwylio
Marele Frate supravegheaza
A Nagy Testv�r figyel
T� an dearth�ir m�r ag coimead s�il ort
Taham tuta ramham ik
Grote Broer kijkt
Der gro�e Bruder beobachtet euch alle
El Gran Hermano vigila
saudara besar sedang mengawasi
Storebror ser deg
biggu burazaa wa itsumo kimi wo
mitsumeteiru
Velk� bratr t� sleduje
Il Grande Fratello vi sorveglia
Stori Brodir fylgist med thjer
Isoveli valvoo
Frater Magnus servo est
o grande irm�o est� observando
El gran germ� vigila
Didysis brolis stebi
Bol'shoi brat nablyudaet
Ha'akh ha'gadol tzofe bekha
La frato granda rigardas
DubejtaH loDnI' tIn
Wielki Brat ?ledzi
Veliki brat gleda
B�y�k birader seni izliyor
O megalos adelphos sas akoulouthi
Ouboet kyk
Big Brother nun dangsinul bogo isumnida

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