Government Developing AI-Powered Surveillance Program That Can Keep an Eye on People in Smart Cities

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(Natural News)—The government is working on a new system to enable the identification and tracking of individuals and motor vehicles through different video sources.

Established in 2006, the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) is an organization within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The information that it gathers is supposedly meant to help the work of the United States’ intelligence community.

IARPA specializes in “high-risk, high-payoff research that delivers innovative technology for future overwhelming intelligence advantage.”

In early February, the organization published a technical draft for its Video Linking and Intelligence from Non-Collaborative Sensors (Video LINCS) research program. (Related: The globalist vision: “15 Minute” prison cities and the end of private property.)

The draft provides very specific information on how the U.S. spy community aims to utilize artificial intelligence to analyze video footage obtained from various sources, including CCTV cameras and drones, maybe even extending to webcams and phones. This autonomous system will also enable the identification, tracking and tracing of individuals and motor vehicles.

According to the draft, the goal is to help with the analysis of “tragic incidents” that require large amounts of “forensic analyses.” Video LINCS will also “analyze patterns for anomalies and threats.” The language is vague, incredibly vague. In a video, IARPA Program Director Reuven Meth said Video LINCS will be used to “facilitate smart city planning.”

Tech to help government surveil people in smart and 15-minute cities

The Sociable editor Tim Hinchliffe wrote that the deployment of the Video LINCS program could be repurposed to spy on dissidents and enforce order in smart and 15-minute cities.

“Ask yourself, why would the U.S. spy agency funding arm want to develop tools for smart city planning?” he wrote.

Smart cities are incredibly similar to 15-minute cities or FMCs. In FMCs and smart cities, every imaginable facility, ranging from coffee shops to schools to gyms, can be conveniently reached within a 15-minute walk or bike ride.

At first glance, there may not appear to be many downsides to living in such a place. However, expediency is not always synonymous with positive outcomes; in fact, it can sometimes be perilous. This is particularly true when individuals, whether consciously or unconsciously, sacrifice their freedom in exchange for convenient access to specific services.

While FMCs may enhance the accessibility for citizens to travel between different locations, they also create opportunities for those in positions of authority to invade privacy, exploit personal data and enable an even more intrusive surveillance state.

The Video LINCS program aims to utilize a broad range of technologies to identify and track individuals, vehicles and objects over extended distances and time periods, including AI and soft biometrics (analysis of physical and behavioral traits).

In addition to detecting perceived threats and aiding in the development of smart cities, Video LINCS could also be used to “identify who was present at a rally, protest or riot – such as the one that occurred in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021 – and follow their every move as they make their way back home, even when they change their clothes,” warned Hinchliffe.

Of course, such technology “would be invaluable to governments wishing to enforce future lockdowns or low-emission zones in 15-minute smart cities as the authorities would be able to identify who broke protocol while tracking and tracing their every move for law enforcement to hunt them down. All of this would be done autonomously and automatically,” he added.