FC: Washington DC erects surveillance cam network; EPIC FOIA request

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

Politech facecam archive (note DC is not using face recognition technology 
yet, but this may be relevant):
http://www.politechbot.com/cgi-bin/politech.cgi?name=facecam

Xeni Jardin sends along this Reuters article summarizing the WSJ story:
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=topnews&StoryID=593227

-Declan

---

http://www.msnbc.com/news/706224.asp?newguid=8ED0D771033344BDB2187658775AC770&cp1=1

   D.C. cops build surveillance network
   New system will link hundreds of public cameras
   By Jess Bravin
   THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

       WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 --  A camera mounted on the roof of police
   headquarters here peers down at pedestrians approaching the steps of
   the Capitol half a mile away. Then it zooms in on a couple who are
   climbing the stairs, unaware they are being watched. Inside
   headquarters, a huge digital image of the couple is displayed on
   floor-to-ceiling monitors in a darkened high-tech command center, the
   hub of what will soon be one of the nation's most extensive public
   surveillance networks.

          THE NEW SYSTEM will link hundreds of cameras that already
   monitor mass-transit stations, monuments and schools with new digital
   cameras that will be installed to watch over streets, shopping areas
   and neighborhoods.
          "In the context of Sept. 11, we have no choice but to accept
   greater use of this technology," says Stephen Gaffigan, who heads the
   Washington Metropolitan Police Department project. He says city
   officials have studied the pervasive public surveillance in Britain,
   where the government has placed more than two million cameras
   throughout the country in recent years. "We are intrigued by that
   model," Mr. Gaffigan says.
          Tuesday morning, in response to the latest terror alert issued
   by the Justice Department, Washington police activated the command
   center, which was first used on Sept. 11. Officers from a host of
   federal authorities, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
   Secret Service, Capitol Police and Amtrak Police, joined city officers
   in monitoring key buildings around Washington.
          The room will stay in operation until federal officials end the
   terror alert, Mr. Gaffigan says. The cameras have been programmed to
   scan public areas automatically, and officers can take over manual
   control if they see something they want to examine more closely. But
   right now, the system has no "biometric" software that will permit an
   automated match between a face in the crowd and a computerized photo
   of a suspect. "We're looking at that technology but have made no
   decisions" about how or whether to use it, Mr. Gaffigan says.

   [...]

---

Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 16:11:34 -0500
To: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
From: Marc Rotenberg <rotenberg () mail epic org>
Subject: EPIC FOIAs Records on DC Video Surveillance

Declan,

Following the news about the DC surveillance
system we are pursuing a new series of FOIA
requests.

Details below.

Regards,

Marc.

-----------------------------------------------------


PRESS RELEASE
Wednesday, February 13, 2002

         EPIC FILES FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT REQUESTS
                ON VIDEO SPY SYSTEM IN NATION's CAPITAL

WASHINGTON, DC - The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)
today filed a series of Freedom of Information Act requests with
federal agencies and the District of Columbia to uncover details
about a new system of video surveillance in the Nation's capital.

Marc Rotenberg, the Executive Director of EPIC, said, "We are
going to find out everything we can about this system: Who is the
contractor? What is the cost? What data will be collected and who
will have access to it? This system implicates the freedoms of DC
residents, visitors to our nation's capital, and the words inscribed
in many of our national monuments."

According to the DC Convention and Tourism Corporation, the
Washington, DC metropolitan area hosted 17.6 million domestic
visitors and 1.6 million international visitors in 2000.

FOIA requests went to the Washington Metropolitan Police Department,
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Secret Service, and the
Department of Defense. Subsequent requests may be sent to other
federal and state agencies.

Mr. Rotenberg said that the creation of a system of public
surveillance in the city that has been the site of historic
political ralles, the civil rights marches of the 1960s,
Presidential addresses, and Martin Luther's King's I Have a Dream
speech should not be tolerated.

"Washington is a city that has welcomed public protest and debate.
That should not change. The capital of the  United States should not
become the crucible for hi-tech surveillance," said Rotenberg.

EPIC has pursued many successful requests for public records held by
government agencies. In one case, EPIC obtained records that
disclosed the technical capability of the Carnivore surveillance
system. Another request revealed the Secret Service's involvement in
the development of face recognition technology.

Information about the most recent EPIC FOIA request is available at
the EPIC web site - www.epic.org.

--

==================================================================
Marc Rotenberg, exec director          +     +1 202 483 1140 (tel)
Electronic Privacy Information Center  +     +1 202 483 1248 (fax)
1718 Connecticut Ave NW Suite 200      +        rotenberg () epic org
Washington DC 20009  USA               +       http://www.epic.org
==================================================================




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