Proliferation of Surveillance Devices Threatens Privacy

[Matthew Gaylor]

Proliferation of Surveillance Devices Threatens Privacy

Joint Statement of House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-TX,
And The American Civil Liberties Union
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, July 11, 2001


WASHINGTON -- Over the past several days, a troubling expansion in 
the way technology is being used in the surveillance of ordinary 
Americans has come to light. In response, we are today joining 
together to call on all state and local governments to stop using 
these dangerous technologies now before privacy in America is so 
diminished that it becomes nothing more than a fond memory.

Majority Leader Armey will ask the General Accounting Office to study 
the extent to which the federal government is funding 
facial-recognition technologies. In addition, he will ask the 
relevant House Committees to hold hearings on law enforcement use of 
surveillance technology. The ACLU supports these requests.

Tampa, Florida drew attention to the importance of these issues with 
its highly publicized use of facial recognition technology during 
this year's "snooperbowl." The city recently took the next step by 
using the software to scan individuals in an entertainment district. 
Virginia Beach announced this week that it will seek state funding to 
install similar facial-recognition cameras in its oceanfront areas.

In Colorado, the Department of Motor Vehicles is moving ahead with a 
plan approved by the Legislature to create a database containing 
computerized three-dimensional facial maps of all those applying for 
driver's licenses.

There is an alarming potential for misuse of all of these systems. 
Used in conjunction with facial-recognition software, for example, 
the Colorado database could allow the public movements of every 
citizen in the state to be identified, tracked, recorded and stored.

These surveillance systems are ineffective and will lead the police 
to stop people who have done nothing wrong. According to the Los 
Angeles Times, a recent study by the National Institute of Standards 
and Technology found that digital comparisons of posed photos of the 
same person taken 18 months apart triggered false rejection by 
computers 43 percent of the time. Police relying on this technology 
will be led too often to stop and question the innocent instead of 
the suspect.

These cameras do not generate suspicion adequate to trigger a law 
enforcement stop. Instead, they may lead to high-tech "racial 
profiling" should surveillance cameras be placed in areas populated 
primarily by members of ethnic and racial minority groups.

We are extremely troubled by this unprecedented expansion in 
high-tech surveillance in the United States. We believe that 
technology should not be used to create a "virtual line up" of 
Americans who are not suspected of having done anything wrong.

The threats to privacy in America are all too real. We believe the 
privacy risk outweighs any benefits that these devices may offer. 
It's time to take notice of what has happened to privacy in America 
today.

The ACLU of Florida has asked Tampa city officials for additional 
information about what its facial recognition program. For more 
information, see:

http://www.aclu.org/news/2001/n070601a.html

Copyright 2001, The American Civil Liberties Union

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