Tri-City hockey crowds to be taped for U.S. security research

[unhappycamper]

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2013/09/12/2570354/tri-city-hockey-crowds-to-be-taped.html



Face recognition technology will be tested by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory researchers Sept. 21 at the Tri-Cities Americans home opener at Toyota Center in Kennewick. Nick Lombardo, right, a PNNL project manager and PNNL engineer Marcia Kimura, left, along with a team of researchers have set up several video cameras on the east concourse of Toyota Center. Twenty PNNL volunteers will be the only people the cameras will be looking for at the game andfans attending the game can opt out of being on camera by using designated routes to avoid the cameras.

Tri-City hockey crowds to be taped for U.S. security research
By Annette Cary — Tri-City Herald
Published: September 12, 2013

Richland — Hockey fans at the season opener of the Tri-City Americans will have a chance to help the U.S. Department of Homeland Security improve its facial recognition capabilities.

Video will be taped by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory at the Sept. 21 game in a portion of the Toyota Center in Kennewick.

It is planned to be used by the U.S. government to test the capabilities of facial recognition software that is available or in the prototype stage.

Eventually, state-of-the-art facial recognition technologies could be used to identify terrorists and criminals in public areas, according to the national lab in Richland. The Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate works to make technology available to agencies ranging from local police offices to the U.S. Border Patrol, Transportation Security Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

[tazkcmo]

1. A partial list

of potential uses:

"Eventually, state-of-the-art facial recognition technologies could be used to identify terrorists and criminals in public areas, according to the national lab in Richland."

They don't mention dissenters, protesters, political opponents or those pesky free thinkers. YAY for the surveillance state!