-Caveat Lector- Sharpening Up Surveillance by Heidi Kriz 11:55 a.m. 27.Jan.99.PST New federally funded software promises to double the quality of fuzzy video surveillance camera footage, gratifying crime fighters but raising concerns among privacy watchdogs. Developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, the Video Imaging Tool for Aiding Law Enforcement, or VITALE, samples multiple frames of surveillance footage, compiles information on the subject from different views, and then fuses the data together to sharpen the image. "A lot of law enforcement agencies come to us for technology they don't have," said Oak Ridge National Laboratory spokesman Ron Walli. "We believe this new technology will make a significant difference in solving crimes that would perhaps otherwise remain unsolved." Researcher Ken Tobin and his team developed algorithms to cut back on the visual "noise" of video, clearing up the fuzzy, snowy stick-up footage familiar to consumers of "reality" police television programming. The technology has already helped put one killer behind bars. In July 1995, police in Chattanooga, Tennessee, were stymied by grainy footage that showed the killing of a convenience-store clerk during a robbery. The police sent the tape to Oak Ridge where, using a prototype version of VITALE, researchers clarified the image. A suspect was subsequently arrested and convicted. The Oak Ridge software package is not in commercial release yet, but law enforcement officials hope to be using a beta version by the end of the summer. Beyond law enforcement, the technology has medical-imaging and satellite-technology applications as well, Farrell said. But Barry Steinhardt, associate director of the ACLU, suggested that the technology is not likely to stop there. "What happens if other government agencies get hold of these videotapes, and use the images and information recorded not of criminals, but innocent private citizens?" Steinhardt asked. "It's part of a rush of technology that is making surveillance more and more commonplace and affordable," Steinhardt said. "We are going to have to resign ourselves to either all be living in glass houses, or we need to introduce some regulatory legislation." The ACLU has definite ideas about such legislation, according to Norman Siegal, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. The group wants laws to limit the amount of tape recorded, distributed, and stored, and also wants individuals notified when they are being taped. To demonstrate the near-ubiquity of public surveillance cameras, the NYCLU mapped the locations of 2,397 surveillance cameras visible on the streets of Manhattan. "We need to take an active, not passive, role in deciding how surveillance technology can be used in public," Siegal said. "Technology is driving us. We need to get hold of technology." DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
