The incredible U.S. military spy drone that’s so powerful it can see what type of phone you’re carrying from 17,500ft

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May 162013
 

The incredible U.S. military spy drone that’s so powerful it can see what type of phone you’re carrying from 17,500ft

Daily Mail / UK
by Damian Gayle
January 28, 2013

  • The ARGUS-IS can view an area of 15 sq/miles in a single image
  • Its zoom capability can detect an object as small as 6in on the ground
  • Developed by BAE as part of a $18million DARPA project
  • System works by stringing together 368 digital camera chips

A sinister airborne surveillance camera gives the U.S. military the ability to track movements in an entire city like a real-time Google Street View. The ARGUS-IS array can be mounted on unmanned drones to capture an area of 15 sq/miles in an incredible 1,800MP – that’s 225 times more sensitive than an iPhone camera. From 17,500ft the remarkable surveillance system can capture objects as small as 6in on the ground and allows commanders to track movements across an entire battlefield in real time.

 

Beat that, Google: An image taken from 17,500ft by the U.S. military's ARGUS-IS array, which can capture 1,800MP zoomable video feeds of an entire medium-sized city in real time

Beat that, Google: An image taken from 17,500ft by the U.S. military’s ARGUS-IS array, which can capture 1,800MP zoomable video feeds of an entire medium-sized city in real time

 

‘It is important for the public to know that some of these capabilities exist,’ said Yiannis Antoniades, the BAE engineer who designed the system, in a recent PBS broadcast. The aerospace and weapons company developed the ARGUS-IS array as part of a $18.5million project funded by the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa).

In Greek mythology, Argus Panoptes, guardian of the heifer-nymph Io and son of Arestor, was a primordial giant whose epithet, ‘Panoptes’, ‘all-seeing’, led to his being described with multiple, often one hundred, eyes. Like the Titan of myth, the Pentagon’s ARGUS-IS (a backronym standing for Autonomous Real-time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance-Imaging System) works by stringing together an array of 368 digital camera imaging chips. An airborne processor combines the video from these chips to create a single ultra-high definition mosaic video image which updates at up to 15 frames a second.

 

All-seeing: This graphic illustrates how the U.S. military's ARGUS-IS array links together images streamed from hundreds of digital camera sensors to watch over a huge expanse of terrain in real time

All-seeing: This graphic illustrates how the U.S. military’s ARGUS-IS array links together images streamed from hundreds of digital camera sensors to watch over a huge expanse of terrain in real time

 

What it looks like: The ARGUS-IS (a backronym standing for Autonomous Real-time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance-Imaging System) strings together an array of 368 digital camera imaging chips into a single unit

What it looks like: The ARGUS-IS (a backronym standing for Autonomous Real-time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance-Imaging System) strings together an array of 368 digital camera imaging chips into a single unit

 

That tremendous level of detail makes it sensitive enough to not only track people moving around on the ground thousands of feet below, but even to see what they are doing or carrying. The ARGUS array sends its live feed to the ground where it connects to a touch-screen command room interface. Using this, operators can zoom in to any area within the camera’s field of view, with up to 65 zoom windows open at once. Each video window is electronically steerable independent of the others, and can either provide continuous imagery of a fixed area on the ground or be designated to automatically keep a specified target in the window.

 

Sinister: The system tracks all moving objects in its field of view, highlighting them with coloured boxes, allowing operators to track movements across an area as and when they happen

Sinister: The system tracks all moving objects in its field of view, highlighting them with coloured boxes, allowing operators to track movements across an area as and when they happen

 

The system automatically tracks any moving object it can see, including both vehicles and individuals on foot, highlighting them with coloured boxes so they can be easily identified. It also records everything, storing an approximate million terabytes of data a day – the equivalent of 5,000 hours of high-definition video footage. ‘So you can go back and say I’d like to see what happened at this particular location three days, two hours [and] four minutes ago, and it will actually show you what happened as if you were watching it live,’ said Mr Antoniades.

 

iPad next? The feed from the ARGUS is transmitted to a touch-screen command and control interface

iPad next? The feed from the ARGUS is transmitted to a touch-screen command and control interface

 

Windows: Operators can open a window to zoom in to any area within the camera's field of view, with up to 65 open and running at once

Windows: Operators can open a window to zoom in to any area within the camera’s field of view, with up to 65 open and running at once

 

Total surveillance: The view of Quantico, Virginia, highlighted in the PBS film

Total surveillance: The view of Quantico, Virginia, highlighted in the PBS film

 

For the PBS programme reporting the technology, Mr Antoniades showed reporters a feed over the city of Quantico, Virginia, that was recorded in 2009. The technology has been in development since 2007 but authorities are staying tight lipped about whether it has yet been deployed on the battlefield. Dr Steven Wein, director of optical sensor systems at BAE Systems, said: ‘The ARGUS-IS system overcomes the fundamental limitations of current airborne surveillance systems. ‘Very high-resolution imaging systems required for vehicle and dismount tracking typically have a “soda-straw” view that is too small for persistent coverage. ‘Existing wide-area systems have either inadequate resolution or require multiple passes or revisits to get updates.’ BAE are now said to be working on an infra-red version of ARGUS that would allow commanders total surveillance of an area even at night.

 

Direct Link:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2269563/The-U-S-militarys-real-time-Google-Street-View-Airborne-spy-camera-track-entire-city-1-800MP.html

Student Suspended for Refusing to Wear a School-Issued RFID Tracker

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Nov 272012
 

Student Suspended for Refusing to Wear a School-Issued RFID Tracker

 

WIRED
by David Kravets
November 21, 2012

 

Student body ID cards with RFID-embedded chips. Image: Northside Independent School District

 

2:30 p.m. PST UPDATE:

A local Texas judge on Wednesday tentatively blocked the suspension, pending further hearings next week.

A Texas high school student is being suspended for refusing to wear a student ID card implanted with a radio-frequency identification chip.

Northside Independent School District in San Antonio began issuing the RFID-chip-laden student-body cards when the semester began in the fall. The ID badge has a bar code associated with a student’s Social Security number, and the RFID chip monitors pupils’ movements on campus, from when they arrive until when they leave.

Radio-frequency identification devices are a daily part of the electronic age — found in passports, and library and payment cards. Eventually they’re expected to replace bar-code labels on consumer goods. Now schools across the nation are slowly adopting them as well.

The suspended student, sophomore Andrea Hernandez, was notified by the Northside Independent School District in San Antonio that she won’t be able to continue attending John Jay High School unless she wears the badge around her neck, which she has been refusing to do. The district said the girl, who objects on privacy and religious grounds, beginning Monday would have to attend another high school in the district that does not yet employ the RFID tags.

The Rutherford Institute said it would go to court and try to nullify the district’s decision. The institute said that the district’s stated purpose for the program — to enhance their coffers — is “fundamentally disturbing.”

“There is something fundamentally disturbing about this school district’s insistence on steamrolling students into complying with programs that have nothing whatsoever to do with academic priorities and everything to do with fattening school coffers,” said John Whitehead, the institute’s president.

Like most state-financed schools, the district’s budget is tied to average daily attendance. If a student is not in his seat during morning roll call, the district doesn’t receive daily funding for that pupil because the school has no way of knowing for sure if the student is there.

But with the RFID tracking, students not at their desk but tracked on campus are counted as being in school that day, and the district receives its daily allotment for that student.

Tagging school children with RFID chips is uncommon, but not new. A federally funded preschool in Richmond, California, began embedding RFID chips in students’ clothing in 2010. And an elementary school outside of Sacramento, California, scrubbed a plan in 2005 amid a parental uproar. And a Houston, Texas, school district began using the chips to monitor students on 13 campuses in 2004 for the same reasons the Northside Independent School District implemented the program. Northside is mulling adopting the program for its other 110 schools.

The Hernandez family, which is Christian, told InfoWars that the sophomore is declining to wear the badge because it signifies Satan, or the Mark of the Beast warning in Revelations 13: 16-18.

The district, in a letter last week to the family, said it would allow her to continue attending the magnet school with “the battery and chip removed.” But the girl’s father, Steve Hernandez, said the district told him that the offer came on the condition that he must “agree to stop criticizing the program and publicly support it,” a proposition the father told WND Education that he could not stomach.

The district was not immediately available to comment.

 

Direct Link:  http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/11/student-suspension/

Anthony Pellicano Pleads for Early Jail Release

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Jun 252012
 

 

Anthony Pellicano Pleads for Early Jail Release

His lawyer says that the former private eye is not a danger to the public or to flee; and that he is suffering from a serious eye condition.

The Hollywood Reporter
by Alex Ben Block
June 12, 2012

Anthony Pellicano
Former P.I. to the Stars, Anthony Pellicano

Will the pelican finally fly free?

Notorious Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano is currently serving time in a federal penitentiary in Texas for illegal possession of firearms and explosives, unlawful wiretapping and racketeering. But an attorney for Pellicano this week requested his client be granted bail and be released until his appeal can be heard in a filing to Judge Dale Fischer of the U.S. District Court. His request is expected to be a subject of discussion at a hearing July 9 in federal court in Los Angeles.

“Mr. Pellicano has already served approximately 67 months in federal custody which completely satisfies his prison terms for all convictions in this case but the two flawed RICO counts,” writes attorney Steven F. Gruel in his presentation to the court. (Download a PDF of the document here.)

RICO is a legal term for the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Pellicano’s attorney says in his filing that since his client was convicted, the U.S. Supreme Court and a federal appeals court have issued opinions that he believes “completely eviscerate the government’s convictions” in the Pellicano case.

Gruel argues that will provide ample grounds for an appeal, so it is reasonable for his client to be granted bond and freed until that can be heard, which could take into 2014.

“Given the recent court rulings,” the filing says, “it would be completely unjust to insist that Mr. Pellicano remain in custody any longer while his appeal is pending.”

The case involving Pellicano was one of the highest profile prosecutions involving major Hollywood players in recent years. Pellicano at the turn of the century was one of the most active private investigators specializing in show business clients, working closely with many top lawyers.

Among the clients Pellicano was alleged to have worked on behalf of were studio heads Brad Grey and Ron Meyer, power broker Michael Ovitz, actors Elizabeth Taylor and Chris Rock, powerful lawyer Bert Fields and billionaire former MGM owner Kirk Kerkorian, among many others

Among those whose phones Pellicano illegally tapped were actor Sylvester Stallone and comedians Gary Shandling and Kevin Nealon.

Things started to unravel in 2002 when Anita Busch, then a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, was harassed and threatened. That created a trail that eventually led authorities to Pellicano, and allegedly to his client Ovitz as well. Ovitz, who was never prosecuted, is still being sued by Busch in a civil case, as are others.

Prominent attorney Terry Christensen was also convicted in the case in 2008 but remains free on bail pending his appeal. Mark Arneson, a former LAPD sergeant who aided Pellicano by accessing confidential government records, was granted bail in 2009.

The filing says that Pellicano prosecutors have not yet filed an answer to briefs in the case filed in 2010. “Such unacceptable foot dragging by the prosecution (with its massive resources),” says the filing, “smacks of blatant vindictiveness that results in irreparable loss of time to Mr. Pellicano.”

Gruel raises numerous other questions about how the case and the trials against Pellicano – who in some cases acted as his own lawyer –  were conducted, and says they will raise substantial questions for the appeals court.

Gruel also pleads that Pellicano, now 68, indigent and suffering from an eye condition, is not a danger to the community or likely to flee if granted bail. He points out that during the process that led up to his convictions, which began with his indictment in 2006, Pellicano has been cooperating with authorities. He also notes Pellicano will not repeat his crimes since his investigation firm has been out of business for almost a decade.

The filing also includes a declaration from Pellicano’s cousin Fred Filippi of San Clemente, who says he is prepared to take him into his home if he is released. Filippi says he is also willing to act as a court appointed custodian for Pellicano, would be willing to sign a surety bond (along with other relatives) putting up his home to insure his cousin does not flee, and would go along with an order for Pellicano to wear electronic monitoring equipment.

Gruel also alludes to one reason Pellicano allegedly was treated so harshly. He has never agreed to provide information about his many celebrity clients to the authorities, despite pressure to do so.

“Although it may not publically say so,” says the filing, “the government shares this view that Mr. Pellicano is not a danger. When the prosecutors and agents approached Mr. Pellicano to “flip” him to cooperate, they clearly dangled the keys to his freedom in exchange for his honor. The set of ‘keys’ would not have been repeatedly offered by the prosecution if it truly considered Mr. Pellicano a danger.

“Rather, to suggest that Mr. Pellicano is a ‘danger’, now in light of his advanced age, health and lack of resources would be a further illustration of the prosecution’s frustration with Mr. Pellicano’s steadfast decision to stand tall (and silent); all the while unwilling to cooperate.”

 

* Our editor recommends:

Michael Ovitz Sued for $203K in Legal Fees Related to Pellicano Wire-Tapping Case

 

Direct Link:  http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/anthony-pellicano-attorneys-early-release-336474

OnStar Tracks Your Car Even When You Cancel Service

 Articles of Interest, Law Enforcement, Technology & Digital Security  Comments Off
Nov 032011
 

OnStar Tracks Your Car Even When You Cancel Service
By David Kravets
Associated Press / September 20, 2011

Navigation-and-emergency-services company OnStar is notifying its six million account holders that it will keep a complete accounting of the speed and location of OnStar-equipped vehicles, even for drivers who discontinue monthly service.

OnStar began e-mailing customers Monday about its update to the privacy policy, which grants OnStar the right to sell that GPS-derived data in an anonymized format.

Adam Denison, a spokesman for the General Motors subsidiary, said OnStar does not currently sell customer data, but it reserves that right. He said both the new and old privacy policies allow OnStar to chronicle a vehicle’s every movement and its speed, though it’s not clear where that’s stated in the old policy.

“What’s changed [is that if] you want to cancel your OnStar service, we are going to maintain a two-way connection to your vehicle unless the customer says otherwise,” Denison said in a telephone interview.

The connection will continue, he said, to make it “easier to re-enroll” in the program, which charges plans from $19 to $29 monthly for help with navigation and emergencies. Canceling customers must opt out of the continued surveillance monitoring program, according to the privacy policy.

The privacy changes take effect in December, Denison said, adding that the policy reinforces the company’s right to sell anonymized data.

“We hear from organizations periodically requesting our information,” he said.

He said an example of how the data might be used would be for the Michigan Department of Transportation “to get a feel for traffic usage on a specific section of freeway.” The policy also allows the data to be used for marketing purposes by OnStar and vehicle manufacturers.

Collecting location and speed data via GPS might also create a treasure trove of data that could be used in criminal and civil cases. One could also imagine an eager police chief acquiring the data to issue speeding tickets en masse.

Jonathan Zdziarski, an Ohio forensics scientist, blogged about the new terms Tuesday. In a telephone interview, he said he was canceling his service and making sure he was being disconnected from OnStar’s network.

He said the new privacy policy goes too far.

“They added a bullet point allowing them to collect any data for any purpose,” he said.

Here is the link to the article & more:
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/09/onstar-tracks-you/

Here is the link for their privacy change memo:
http://www.onstar.com/tunnel-web/webdav/portal/document_library/downloadable/PrivacyStatement-2011-USE.pdf