Begin forwarded message:
> From: dasg...@aol.com > Date: July 5, 2010 2:16:23 PM PDT > To: ramille...@aol.com > Cc: ema...@aol.com, j...@aol.com, jim6...@cwnet.com > Subject: Universal Eavesdropping: EU Tests System to Monitor All Verbal > Communications > > Spy tech that ‘monitors conversations’ being launched in Europe: report > > > By Daniel Tencer > Sunday, July 4th, 2010 -- 3:51 pm > http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0704/spy-tech-monitors-conversations-europe/ > Privacy rights advocates and civil liberties campaigners in Europe are > raising the alarm about a new surveillance system that monitors conversations > in public. > > The surveillance system, dubbed Sigard, has been installed in Dutch city > centers, government offices and prisons, and a recent test-run of the > technology in Coventry, England, has British civil rights experts worried > that the right to privacy will disappear in efforts to fight street crime. > > The system's manufacturer, Sound Intelligence, says it works by detecting > aggression in speech patterns. > > "Ninety percent of all incidents involving physical aggression are preceded > by verbal aggression," the Sound Intelligence Web site says. "The ability to > spot verbal aggression before it turns into a violent outbreak delivers > valuable time to security personnel and enables speedy intervention." > > According to the UK's Sunday Telegraph, > http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/7870928/Surveillance-system-monitors-conversations.html > the city of Coventry recently finished a six-month test run of the > system, which involved the installation of seven microphones around a > crime-prone nightlife district. A spokesperson for the city said the system > is "no longer in use." > > The Herald in Scotland reported last month > http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/crime-courts/privacy-fears-over-the-device-that-can-eavesdrop-on-crimes-1.1036149?localLinksEnabled=false > that the system has also been tested in London, Glasgow, Birmingham and > Manchester. > > "In Hackney in London, the system detected up to six crimes a night, > including fights and guns being fired," the paper reported. > > Sigard's use is more widespread in the Netherlands, where the system's > manufacturer is located. According to the Sound Intelligence Web site, the > system has been installed in Amsterdam's train station, as well as police > headquarters, and has also been installed inside a number of prisons and the > city centers of Dordrecht and Groningen. > > Sound Intelligence says that the technology focuses principally on tone of > voice, and is not designed to listen to the content of conversations. But > opponents say the technology is open to abuse. > > "There can be no justification for giving councils or the police the > capability to listen in on private conversations," Dylan Sharpe of the UK's > Big Brother Watch told the Sunday Telegraph. "There is enormous potential for > abuse, or a misheard word, causing unnecessary harm with this sort of > intrusive and overbearing surveillance." > > In a sarcastic editorial, > http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/colette-douglas-home/we-re-watching-our-freedoms-vanish-thanks-to-spy-society-1.1036338 > the Herald argued that crime could be eliminated altogether if the > government were to install Sigard technology in all homes and offices. > > Let’s install surveillance cameras and microphones in every room of every new > home that is built. Make it a condition of planning consent. ... It won’t > just leave terrorists with no place to hide, it’ll expose criminals wherever > they’re holed up or plotting. Isn’t this the logical extension of what is > already happening, of what we’re allowing with barely a squeak of protest? > > The police could be at the door, handcuffs at the ready, before a drunken man > can punch his wife or say “domestic violence”. ... Cameras in the home would > eradicate child abuse. Burglary, too, would be obliterated since the thief > would know the police had a ringside seat. Think of the benefits. Peace would > reign in every household, the crime rate would plummet and prisons would no > longer be overcrowded. >
