US spying on EVERYONE or just another media frenzy?

Media speculation has been building around surveillance technology that could be used to help predict potential terrorist activity.

The use of the system, called Trapwire, was revealed last week in leaked emails published by whistle-blowing website Wikileaks. Trapwire uses what is described as a ‘rules based engine’ to detect, analyse and alert on suspicious behaviour – a concept that is hardly new to video surveillance.

But the somewhat hyped up media headlines that claim Trapwire is being used in New York City and Washington DC have helped fuel the controversy.

The Daily Mail’s reaction on Monday was typically understated: ‘U.S. government is secretly spying on EVERYONE using civilian security cameras, say Wikileaks’.

According to the leaked documents the system is in use in cities including Washington DC and Los Angeles as well as locations including the London Stock Exchange, 10 Downing Street, and the Pentagon.

Documents from the US department of homeland security are claimed to show that it paid $832,000 to deploy Trapwire in Washington DC and Seattle.

The New York City Subway has had 500 cameras using the Trapwire system installed since 2010, according to the leaked documents, though other media reports carry denials from New York police that this is the case.

Not a secret technology

Despite the Daily Mail describing the technology as having “disturbing echoes of the film The Bourne Identity”, and the Guardian saying that it “sounds like something from the film Minority Report”, this kind of software is nothing new.

Video analytics firms such as VCA Technology and Physical Security Information Management vendors such as CNL Software have been using CCTV data, as well as other security information, to provide real-time analysis of threats for years now.

Such video analytics software could be said to be part of the growing significance of PSIM (Physical Security Information Management), a market that is estimated to be worth $2.7 billion by 2021 according to Frost & Sullivan.

Trapwire describe their system’s capabilities on their website:

“TrapWire is a unique, predictive software system designed to detect patterns indicative of terrorist attacks or criminal operations. Utilizing a proprietary, rules-based engine, TrapWire detects, analyzes and alerts on suspicious events as they are collected over periods of time and across multiple locations. Through the systematic capture of these pre-attack indicators, terrorist or criminal surveillance and pre-attack planning operations can be identified — and appropriate law enforcement counter measures employed ahead of the attack. As such, our clients are provided with the ability to prevent the terrorist or criminal event, rather than simply mitigate damage or loss of life.”

The media reaction to this story seems to indicate a misunderstanding of the goals of surveillance – safety not spying – but Wikileaks are still right to shine a spotlight on the activities of government, in my opinion, in order to keep the balance of power in check.