By Nicholas West

One aspect often lost in the immigration debate is the rollout of government solutions that are set to restrict the freedom of the perfectly innocent.  A key component of this is the increased collection of passenger biometrics.

As I’ve discussed before, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has a mandate that’s been 15 years in the making to integrate government databases for ID verification. Private companies have been enlisted to ensure that there is a “quick and easy roll out across U.S. airports,” according to Jim Peters, chief technology officer for SITA, one of the information technology companies working with airlines.

This is predictably moving from isolated and elective collection into mandatory compliance for all inbound and outbound international travelers. This, too, has always been part of the program as shown in this 2017 document from DHS:

DV.load("https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3893766-TVS-PIA.js", {
width: 777,
height: 650,
sidebar: false,
text: false,
container: "#DV-viewer-3893766-TVS-PIA"
});

As Nextgov reports, this increased data collection will begin before passenger arrival, and is now coupled with transferring everything to centralized cloud storage:

In addition to expanding its biometric capabilities, the agency is also working to migrate all of its traveler processing tech to the cloud, create more self-service tools for the public and let officers use mobile devices to verify people entering the country, officials said in a solicitation published Thursday.

[…]

“The paradigm will evolve from biographic data focused to biometric data centric,” officials said in the solicitation. “A biometric-based approach allows threats to be pushed-out further beyond our borders before travelers arrive to the U.S.”

“Integration of facial recognition technologies is intended throughout all passenger applications,” they added.

[…]

Officials aim to have all of the agency’s traveler processing and vetting applications housed in the cloud by 2024, the solicitation said, and they also want to allow “officers to admit or refer travelers using mobile technology.”

I’m not sure how many more hacks or government intrusions we need for the world to understand that cloud storage is not secure. But the key aspect — “all passenger applications” — is far more ominous.

As I reported almost a year ago in “Biometric ID For Travel Goes Global With New CBP Tourism Partnership,” The World Travel & Tourism Council made it known that biometric data collection would be demanded for all aspects of travel and could be integrated across the globe:

This begins at the point of booking with a travel company and continues at the airport, through airline check-in, security, boarding, border management, car hire, and hotel check-in, and then on the return, through immigration and departure in a round-trip between two continents.

As the Nextgov article also confirms, speculation about this type of system coming for domestic travel inside the U.S. is not unfounded conspiracy theory:

The Transportation Security Administration is also in the early stages of rolling out facial recognition software for domestic travelers, and the Homeland Security Department is in the process of upgrading its enterprisewide biometric identification capabilities.

In the solicitation, officials included a lengthy list of applications and programs they would expect the selected vendor to support, many of which at least partly relied on biometric technology.

Avoiding The Eye - Ships Free Today!

It’s important to keep in mind that warnings about the faulty design of facial recognition systems, in particular, continue to increase even among U.S. law enforcement, and some cities have banned the use of government facial recognition in public. The artificial intelligence that underpins the analytics of the data collection also has received a stern rebuke from the world’s leading university experts on predictive modeling.

It appears that CBP has not been receiving the memos, as there is a tip of the hat to pre-crime discovery in their conclusion:

“The future of CBP relies on modern technology,” officials said. “To be successful, officers and agents need tailored, intuitive, and advanced capabilities to anticipate and combat emerging threats.”

So it looks like the future of travel is having all of our biological information collected by untrustworthy governments, centralized into unsecure databases, and being judged by flawed artificial intelligence as to whether or not we are fit to travel. What’s not to love?

---

Nicholas West writes for Activist Post. Support us at Patreon for as little as $1 per month. Support us at Patreon. Follow us on Minds, Steemit, SoMee, BitChute, Facebook and Twitter. Ready for solutions? Subscribe to our premium newsletter Counter Markets.

Subscribe to Activist Post for truth, peace, and freedom news. Follow us on Minds, Twitter, Steemit, and SoMee. Become an Activist Post Patron for as little as $1 per month.

Provide, Protect and Profit from what’s coming! Get a free issue of Counter Markets today.

By Edward Hasbrouck

In an opinion issued late today in Alexandria, VA, US District Court Judge Anthony Trenga has upheld the complaint by 23 victims of US government blacklisting that the system pursuant to which the government has designated them as “suspected terrorists” on the basis of secret algorithms applied to secret datasets, without notice or an opportunity to contest any allegedly “derogatory”  information, does not provide those who are stigmatized, and whose stigmatized status is broadcast to tens of thousands of law enforcement and other government agencies and private entities around the world, with the procedural due process required by the US Constitution.

This decision is one of the most fundamental victories for the rule of law since 9/11.

According to today’s opinion, it is undisputed that the DHS and FBI define anyone who has been arrested or charged with an offense related to terrorism as a “known” terrorist, even if they have been acquitted of that charge.  In other words, the DHS and FBI think that what is “known” is what they believe, not what judges or juries have found the facts to be. That presumption that by definition their secret judgements are more reliable than judicial fact-finding pretty much sums up why this decision is correct, why it is so important, and why it should be upheld if, as seems a near certainty, the government appeals.

None of the plaintiffs have even been arrested, much less convicted, for any criminal offense, terrorist or otherwise. The plaintiffs include, among others, several infants whom the government has apparently blacklisted as “suspected terrorists”. But even though the government will neither confirm nor deny that anyone is or is not, or has or has not been, included in the “Terrorist Screening Database” (TSDB), the court found that the plaintiffs have demonstrated sufficient basis for their belief that they have been blacklisted.

The “No-Fly List” is only a subset of the TSDB, and not being allowed to fly is only a subset of the consequences of blacklisting detailed in the plaintiffs’ submissions to the court and the government’s admissions during discovery and depositions. The TSDB is used as the basis for a plethora of decisions, as the plaintiffs have experienced, from whether to have them arrested at gunpoint when they try to cross land borders  to whether to interrogate them for hours about their religious beliefs, seize their electronic devices for copying and forensic analysis of the data stored on them, or deny them public or private-sector jobs.

The government’s use of secret criteria, secret datasets, and guilt by association as the basis for secret decisions — communicated to tens of thousands of other decision-makers, but not to those who have been blacklisted —  resembles the worst of McCarthyism, just with “terrorist sympathizer” or (literal) “fellow traveler” substituted for “Communist  sympathizer” or (ideological) “fellow traveler”.

Judge Trenga found that inclusion on the TSDB deprives those who are blacklisted of their liberty interest in freedom of movement, both internationally and domestically; that the government stigmatizes them by distributing the blacklist to many other entities; that the secret, standardless, and non-adversarial (i.e. one-sided) decision-making process is inherently likely to result in errors; and that all of this is unconstitutional:

The vagueness of the standard for inclusion in the TSDB, coupled with the lack of any meaningful restraint on what constitutes grounds for placement on the Watchlist, constitutes, in essence, the absence of any ascertainable standard for inclusion and exclusion, which is precisely what offends the Due Process Clause.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({});

We congratulate the plaintiffs for risking retaliation to challenge the government’s supposedly anti-terrorist, and in practice anti-Muslim, witch-hunting program, and  attorneys Gadeir Abbas, Lena Masri, and the rest of CAIR’s legal team for their legal leadership.

Judge Trenga has ordered the parties to submit additional briefs over the next six weeks with respect to what he should order to be done to redress the violations of the plaintiffs’ Constitutional rights that he has found to have occurred and to be ongoing.

We think the answer is clear: the way to provide procedural due process, when the government wants to restrict someone’s movements or other lawful activities, is for the government to apply to a judge for an injunction or restraining order. No new laws or procedures are needed. Courts have procedures for considering requests for orders restricting movement, and act on them every day in domestic violence and other cases.

But the government has never tried to use existing laws to request a no-fly injunction or other restraining orders against a “suspected terrorist”, preferring to substitute the infallible clairvoyance of the pre-cogs in the Terrorist Screening Center for the fallibility of judges and juries using established adversarial fact-finding procedures.

Brave - The Browser Built for Privacy

That’s just wrong. What we need is for the courts and the government to follow the Constitution and other existing laws, not to create a new body of laws and procedures to be used only in witch trials or administrative lynchings of “suspected terrorists”.

---

This article was sourced from PapersPlease.org

Image credit: Anthony Freda Art

Subscribe to Activist Post for truth, peace, and freedom news. Follow us on Minds, Twitter, Steemit, and SoMee. Become an Activist Post Patron for as little as $1 per month.

Provide, Protect and Profit from what’s coming! Get a free issue of Counter Markets today.

By B.N. Frank

If the 60 Minutes Australia report about contaminated air making passengers and pilots sick wasn’t enough to make you stop flying, this just might do it.

From Bloomberg:

Attention airline bathroom loiterers: The next generation of Airbus aircraft will track how long you’ve been in there.

It’s all part of an effort to make commercial cabins a digitally aware domain. The program is Airbus’s bid to raise the Internet of Things — that buzz-phrase for connected household gadgets — to cruising altitude.

FYI:  The Internet of Things – otherwise known as “IoT” has a 74% failure rate.  Security experts can’t say enough bad things about IoT including that it can cause catastrophic events including death.  Many if not all of the components needed to operate IoT emit wireless WiFi radiation which is biologically harmful and can affect children more profoundly than adults (see 1, 2).  If your pets fly with you, exposure can hurt them too.

Back to Bloomberg: 

The Airbus Connected Experience aims to give flight attendants a more detailed survey of the cabin, with sensors for such critical data as when bathroom soap is running low and how much toilet paper remains in each bathroom. But the rethinking of the passenger environment doesn’t just stop with the lavatory.

At each seat, your belt will signal red for unbuckled and green when fastened. The goal is faster boarding and departure, dispensing with those lap-scrutinizing walk-throughs flight attendants must perform. The crew will also have access to information on what’s onboard and where, like which galley carts contain specific meals, such as preorders or vegetarian selections.

Declare Your Independence!

Profit outside the rigged system! Protect yourself from tyranny and economic collapse. Learn to live free and spread peace!


Counter Markets Newsletter - Trends & Strategies for Maximum Freedom

#mc_embed_signup {clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; text-align: center; padding-bottom: 15px; }
.cmhead{color: rgb(255,199,27); text-shadow: 1px 1px 3px rgba(0,0,0,0.5); text-align: center; font-size: 250%; font-family: sans-serif; font-weight: 700;}
.cmsubhead{color: rgb(255,255,255); text-align: center; font-size: 150%; font-family: sans-serif;}
.cmformhead{color: rgb(30, 29, 29); font-size: 160%; font-family: sans-serif; margin-bottom: 10px;}
#mc_embed_signup form { display: inline-block; background-color: #FFF; background-color: #FFF; margin-top: 20px; border-color: rgb(31, 31, 31);
outline: none;
background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);
opacity: 1;
border-width: 3px;
border-style: solid;
border-radius: 5px;
width:70%;
}
#mc_embed_signup input.email {width: 90%; }
#mc_embed_signup input.button { width: 93%; background-color: rgb(246, 137, 34); border-bottom: 3px solid rgba(0,0,0,0.2); font-size: 160%;}
#mc_embed_signup .button:hover {background-color: #e67409;}
/* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block.
We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */

Claim Your FREE Issue Today!

“It’s not a concept, it’s not a dream: It’s reality,” Ingo Wuggetzer, Airbus’s vice president of cabin marketing, said Tuesday at an aviation trade show in Los Angeles. Airbus has begun flight testing the connected cabin on its A350 test aircraft and plans to introduce it on the A321 family in 2021, followed by the larger, two-aisle A350 series two years later.

As cool as all of this may seem to you, the passenger, it’s just another way for airlines to squeeze more profit out of operations. While data from these various areas will be sent to flight attendant tablets or smart phones in real time, the crunching of that data over time is where the real value lies. The connectivity Airbus envisions for its cabins will provide an enormous trove of information airlines can use to analyze and optimize in their never-ending quest for cost efficiencies.

Worth noting:  once Airbus collects this data on customers, they may decide to share it with other businesses – for a price, of course.  This is referred to as “Surveillance Capitalism.” Activist Post has already published articles about businesses profiting from this often without customers’ knowledge or consent (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5).

The article includes more flowery drivel about why all of this is so great for customers.  It might leave some readers reaching for a vomit bag.

American Natural Superfood - Free Sample



Activist Post reports regularly about issues associated with IoT and other new technology.  For more details, visit our archives.

Image credit: Pixabay

Subscribe to Activist Post for truth, peace, and freedom news. Follow us on Minds, Twitter, Steemit, and SoMee. Become an Activist Post Patron for as little as $1 per month.

Provide, Protect and Profit from what’s coming! Get a free issue of Counter Markets today.

By Emma Fiala

Over Memorial Day weekend, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) made an important update to its website. Hemp-derived CBD products may now be carried on airplanes, but only under certain circumstances.

The important update has been needed after the 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp and its derivatives federally. The lag in update has likely confused users of both medical marijuana and CBD oil.

Organically Grown CBD Oil and Products Available (Ad)

CBD oil is a non-psychoactive phytocannabinoid found in cannabis plants (or Cannabis sativa). It has been shown to aid users in treating anxiety, arthritis, pain, depression, and more and is being used with increasingly frequency to relieve pain associated with cancer and cancer treatment and in an attempt to treat the cancer itself.

Prior to the update, the TSA did not distinguish between marijuana and hemp-derived cannabis products, stipulating that cannabis products were not allowed in carry-on luggage or in checked baggage.

The addition to the TSA’s website states,

Products/medications that contain hemp-derived CBD or are approved by the FDA are legal as long as it is produced within the regulations defined by the law under the Agriculture Improvement Act 2018.

It is unclear how the TSA will distinguish between FDA approved CBD products and those that are not.

While the website states that “some” CBD oil remains illegal and that TSA officers are required to report suspected violations, it adds that TSA officers do not search for these substances but may come across them during security screenings.

According to Marijuana Moment, a TSA spokesperson contends “that the policy change was spurred by FDA’s approval of a cannabis-derived anti-seizure medication, Epidiolex.”

In an email, the spokesperson wrote:

TSA was made aware of an FDA-approved drug that contains CBD oil for children who experience seizures from pediatric epilepsy. To avoid confusion as to whether families can travel with this drug, TSA immediately updated TSA.gov once we became aware of the issue.

Despite the new rules, travelers may still run into problems. As evidenced by recent news of grandmothers arrested and jailed for possession of hemp-derived CBD oil despite it being federally legal, there is often a disconnect between the actual rules and those who are enforcing them. If you are planning to travel by plane with CBD oil in the near future, it may be a good idea to be prepared with the TSA’s own documentation. In fact, a TSA official told CNN that, while officers are being briefed on the update,, “there may be some that do not recognize the FDA-approved version.”

This article was sourced from The Mind Unleashed.

Be Free and Independent! Get a free issue of Counter Markets today.

Lisa Garber
Activist Post

If you thought the x-ray scanners at the airport were bad, wait until you find out that TSA employees will soon know what you had for breakfast and how pumped you are to sit on a plane for twelve hours.

Unfortunately, you won’t know what they know, because Homeland Security’s new toy is capable of detecting every molecule on your person from over 164 feet (50 meters) away—without your permission.

CIA-Backed Company Develops New Scanners

Within the next year or two, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will instantly know everything about your body, clothes, and luggage with a new laser-based molecular scanner fired from 164 feet (50 meters) away. From traces of drugs or gun powder on your clothes to what you had for breakfast to the adrenaline level in your body—agents will be able to get any information they want without even touching you, reports Gizmodo.

The scanner was developed by Genia Photonics before being subcontracted by In-Q-Tel, a company founded in 1999 “by a group of private citizens at the request of the Director of the CIA and the support of the U.S. Congress.” Although the technology is not new, In-Q-Tel made it exponentially faster and more convenient to use—which has its own implications.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki1kdlURm90?feature=player_embedded] Blatant Violation of Privacy

Although the TSA says this technology would be used to detect explosive material, the scanners are capable of detecting countless types of molecules. Which ones will be tagged for further surveillance? The cocaine on a dollar bill you received in change after buying coffee? The used joint you unwittingly stepped on at the bus stop? (Let’s not forget Keith Brown, a father of three who had a sugar-grain-sized speck of cannabis under his shoe and was sentenced to four years in a Dubai prison.)

Because of the device’s portability and ease of use, it may even begin to show up at athletic events, movie theaters, traffic lights, and bus and train stations. While this may, for whatever reason, seem like a welcome sense of security to some, it’s a blatant breach of the Fourth Amendment to our Constitution which protects citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures. This manner of surveillance too closely resembles that of the dystopian narratives of Phillip K. Dick, and will likely do little more than result in false positives, delayed human and automobile traffic in already busy areas, and cluttered minds.

You choose—should this manner of privacy invasion be the norm? It will be unless we make noise about it today, while we still can.

Use it or lose it. The First Amendment is under attack across the board and unless we re-assert our right to speak up when our basic human dignity is being eviscerated by uniformed goons on a daily basis, not only at airports but also subways, highways, political events, music concerts and even high school prom nights, we can kiss our liberty goodbye. – Alex Jones from Infowars.

Additional Sources:
Gizmodo
Infowars
The Daily Mail

Explore More:

• Naked Body Scanners | 5 Most Health and Privacy Damaging Aspects


• Government Ignored 1998 Report Finding up to 100 Cancer Deaths from TSA Naked Body Scanners Per Year


• TSA Claims X-ray Scanners are Safe as Europe Bans Scanners for ‘Health, Safety’


• Nationwide Opposition to Airport Body Scanners Grows, “Opt-Out” Day Emerges


• Radiation Scientists Speak Out Against Naked Body Scanners


• DHS Issues Turkey Frying Warning While Frying You with X-Ray Scanners on Biggest Travel Day

This article first appeared at Natural Society, an excellent resource for health news and vaccine information.

TSA goons would oversee implementation of Soviet-style internal passport system for rail travel

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet

Following New York Senator Chuck Schumer’s call for a “no ride list” that would mimic the notoriously sweeping, oppressive and ineffective “no fly list,” Amtrak has publicly backed the idea, which would officially create a Soviet-style internal passport for American citizens and make the presence of TSA workers conducting grope downs at train stations ubiquitous.

Approving of Schumer’s proposal, Amtrak Spokesperson Cliff Cole released the following statement;

“Amtrak is committed to the safety and security of our passengers and remains a safe way to travel. All countermeasures add value in creating an overall security posture in protecting a rail system that operates in an open environment. The creation of a “do not ride” list is no exception. It would, however, have to be developed in close coordination with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and implemented in a way that respects civil rights and allows for the rapid flow of persons and trains, necessary for effective mass transit.”

Of course, the notion of TSA goons ‘respecting civil rights,’ is a complete oxymoron, as their behavior has become synonymous with harassment, perversion and criminality. Latest examples include the disgraceful sexual groping of a 6-year-old girl, as well as yesterday’s ludicrous image which showed TSA agents at KCIA airport checking a baby’s diaper for “poop bombs”.

The “no ride list” move is part of a long-planned agenda to force Americans into accepting an internal passport that they would need to display at security checkpoints littered across the country at so-called “soft target” locations like subways, malls and sports stadiums. Every single form of transport is slated to be included under an internal passport system that would treat Americans similarly to how Israeli troops treat citizens in occupied Palestine.

An internal passport for Americans is codified under the December 2004 Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act, which Congressman Ron Paul warned at the time would, “Allow the government to establish a Soviet-style internal passport system” that would subject “every citizen to surveillance and screening points”.

It’s also about isolating so-called “domestic extremists” under the terms of the MIAC report who will have their freedom of movement restricted and basic liberties such as Second Amendment rights stripped by the federal government. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants people on the “no fly” list, and by extension a “no ride” list, to also be on a “no buy” list and be prevented from purchasing firearms.

“Anyone, even a member of al-Qaida could purchase a train ticket and board an Amtrak train without so much as a question asked,” Schumer said on Sunday. “So that’s why I’m calling for the creation of an Amtrak no ride list. That would take the secure flight program and apply it to Amtrak trains.”

Read Full Article

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post

A recent article published by the BBC entitled “New Emotion Detector Can See When We’re Lying,” introduces a new concept to the prison camp known as Western airports — the addition of “emotion detectors.” The “new” technology is essentially a system of video cameras connected to “a high-resolution thermal imaging sensor and a suite of algorithms.”

The idea behind the most recent Big Brother system being implemented at British airports, or at least the one that is being touted by the security state, is that since humans give away their emotions through a variety of unconscious means, the ability to read these facial cues would greatly enable security agents to interpret the intentions and the honesty of potential terrorists and thereby thwart coming attacks. In order to do this, the surveillance system uses eye movements, dilated pupils, biting, nose wrinkling, heavy breathing, pressing lips together, blinking, swallowing, and other facial movements. The system also detects swelling blood vessels around the eyes.

As Professor Hassan Ugail from Bradford University, a leading researcher on the project, states, “We bring together all this well-established work on expressions, these recent developments in thermal imaging, techniques for image tracking of subjects and our new algorithms into one operational system.”  Ugail has also stated that he believes he will eventually be able to detect those who are lying with an accuracy rate of around 90%, even though it is currently far less effective than that, and admittedly will never be 100%.  Regardless, the system is ready to be deployed even during a time of heightened fear and paranoia that is leading to millions being added to terror databases or no-fly lists for the slightest suspicions.

Both the article and the researchers (as they are quoted in the article), are also quite deceptive in their presentation. Although the system is presented as a new and much-improved version of the lie detector, the fact is that these systems are not lie detectors at all. They are emotion detectors.

By reading the facial cues listed above, the technology can detect emotions such as fear, nervousness, anger, anxiety etc. These emotions can often be symptoms of one who is lying, but they are not guarantees by any means. Indeed, even the BBC article states that this system only detect emotions “such as distress, fear or distrust, and not the act of lying itself.” In short, experiencing one or more of these emotions does not equal lying — these days it equals flying.

Anyone who does not experience at least one of the “trigger” emotions as they get groped, blasted with radiation, yelled at, or intimidated by bomb-sniffing dogs, heavily armed police, and moronic goons is simply not capable of much feeling.

Even without the obnoxious security measures implemented in airports, the normal stresses of travel provide plenty of opportunities to experience negative emotions. Long lines, screaming children, jet lag, inconsiderate fellow travelers, etc can all be taxing enough.

However, with the rape downs occurring at every airport in the Western world, the cancer-causing  body scanners, and the constant harassment  of travelers for every possible “out of the ordinary” act (even going to the bathroom), it is quite hard to believe that traveling through an airport could evoke any emotion other than fear, distress, distrust, or anger.  I, myself, have been through the notorious airport screeners and, I have to say, I was not happy when I got to the other side of security.  There is little doubt that, had an emotion scanner been in place in any of the airports I went through, I would have been pulled aside for extra questioning.

Yet, ironically, it is not only the behavior of the TSA and all the other “go along to get along” enforcers that provokes traveler anxiety. The constant fear mongering of the media and the government about the possibility of being blown to bits by foreign or domestic extremists every time one enters a public building might also be cause for some genuine feelings of fear and distress. Now the traveler will be harassed and questioned for the crime of feeling the fear that the system told him he must feel to begin with!

Secret $1.8 Million Cryptocurrency Script

But the issue is not the effectiveness of the technology; the issue is whether law-abiding, innocent travelers should be subjected to screening and pre-crime surveillance. Considering the blatant abuse of power and uncontrollable behavior of the security agents in airports the world over, if anyone should be subjected to emotional behavioral screening based on their actions it should be those doing the bidding of this tyrannical system.

Indeed, if innocent people are forced to virtually strip naked, have their genitals groped and prodded, be subjected to cancer-causing radiation, and the verbal, sometimes physical, abuse of security agents, then be told to endure all of this without feeling the natural emotions of anger, distrust, or distress, then it seems the issue of Freedom vs. Security has been settled. Unfortunately, both have been severely compromised.

Brandon Turbeville is an author out of Mullins, South Carolina. He has a Bachelor’s Degree from Francis Marion University where he earned the Pee Dee Electric Scholar’s Award as an undergraduate. He has had numerous articles published dealing with a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, and civil liberties. He also the author of Codex Alimentarius – The End of Health Freedom, 7 Real Conspiracies and Five Sense Solutions.

var linkwithin_site_id = 557381;

linkwithin_text=’Related Articles:’

James Corbett
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Nt4Z1tUHgE]
Support BFP
Visit CorbettReport.com

By John Galt

It has been speculated by those who have been researching the ongoing encroachment of the national security state that it would be fully implemented through  a range of restrictions that would make it all but impossible to engage with modern society if one is “non-compliant.”

Enter the “enhanced” driver’s license.

First off, it’s worth noting that having a driver’s license at all is a restriction on one’s liberty. Nevertheless, for those who have given in to that bit of soft tyranny, it now appears that the standard license is not going to be sufficient to travel as you wish.

New Yorkers looking to board a domestic flight or take a cruise next year could find themselves grounded unless they have driver’s licenses containing additional security data soon to be required by the federal government.

That’s because the state has failed to comply with the minimum standards of the federal Real ID system, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security…

The enhancements include essentially turning the driver’s license into a passport even for domestic travel and access to many domestic locations. Naturally, it also is replete with the latest tracking tech.

• It contains an American flag image and has the word “Enhanced” on the front.


• Contains a machine-readable zone on the back.


• It also has a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, a requirement of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security that can help expedite traffic and reduce the environmental effects of traffic at border crossings. Border equipment can recognize an RFID tag from as far as 30 feet away.


• Proof of U.S. citizenship.


• Social Security number through employment and tax records.


• State residency also must be proved from a list of specific records, which include bank statements and school report cards.

When originally announced to New Yorkers in 2009 it was intended to “be used instead of a passport to return to the US by land or sea from Canada, Mexico and some countries in the Caribbean.” Now, however, it appears to have expanded to “go on a cruise or to enter most federal buildings.”

This little device delivers turnkey Internet privacy and security (Ad)

The insult added to injury is that it is going to cost significantly more than the standard licensing fees, which has thus far slowed any talk of mandatory adoption by the state of New York. And as an added bonus applicants must show up in person. Emphasis added:

Secret $1.8 Million Cryptocurrency Script

New York’s Department of Motor Vehicles has resisted making everyone get them, because of the additional administrative costs to the state and the 50 percent increase in the license fee for drivers (an enhanced license costs $30 more than a standard license), DMV spokesman Joseph Morrissey said. It also wants to avoid forcing all applicants to make the required in-person applications to obtain the licenses, he said.

This announcement is troubling on more levels than just the enhanced tracking of one’s movements and potential restrictions on one’s innate right to travel freely. It all stems from the federal Real ID Act that was passed in 2005 in the ongoing opportunistic wake of September 11th. The federal guidelines have been adopted by most states, but a few holdouts like New York feel that they are compliant with the federal regulations simply by offering the enhanced IDs as an option to their residents. So far 800,000 New Yorkers have an enhanced ID, but this falls far short of the nearly 12 million active licenses, highlighting just how excited people seem to be about giving up more rights … and paying to do it.

In the end, it might take quite a while for individual state bureaucracies and constitutions to sort this all out. The federal government would like to see full adoption by 2016, but one blogger in Arizona highlights that a law prohibits her state from complying with federal mandates. This appears to be one significant hurdle among many in the attempt at the full usurpation of states rights by the federal government, in addition to the egregious imposition of federal rule in what is a Constitutional Republic comprised of independent and autonomous states filled with supposedly free citizens.

One must wonder, then, what other restrictions will be imposed in the name of national security if this is not fully resisted while still in its early stages?

What is happening with Real ID in your state? Please leave your comments below.

Sources:

• http://myinforms.com/en/a/16201596-new-yorkers-without-enhanced-drivers-licenses-could-be-barred-from-cruises-domestic-flights/


• http://dmv.ny.gov/driver-license/get-enhanced-driver-license-edl


• http://assembly.state.ny.us/member_files/081/20090707/


• http://www.dhs.gov/real-id-public-faqs


• http://www.smartertravel.com/blogs/today-in-travel/why-the-tsa-may-not-accept-your-driver-license-anymore.html?id=23924125

John Galt writes for ActivistPost.com

/* */




/* */

By Suzanne Finch

Activist Post Editor’s Note: Despite the happy spin put on this research, this is one of the cornerstones to the new pre-crime world we are embarking upon. It’s an inversion of the American principle that you are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Now, an algorithmic overlord will decide who is presumed to be guilty and should have their travel restricted … or worse. Notice, too, that this system is not intended to stop only at border control — which might be an area that even the liberty-minded could accede to — additional uses mentioned include “law enforcement, job interviews and other human resources applications…” According to these researchers, the unit is ready to deploy, they are merely waiting for it to be accepted by the government. What could possibly go wrong?

When you engage in international travel, you may one day find yourself face-to-face with border security that is polite, bilingual and responsive—and robotic.

The Automated Virtual Agent for Truth Assessments in Real Time (AVATAR) is currently being tested in conjunction with the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) to help border security agents determine whether travelers coming into Canada may have undisclosed motives for entering the country.

“AVATAR is a kiosk, much like an airport check-in or grocery store self-checkout kiosk,” said San Diego State University management information systems professor Aaron Elkins. “However, this kiosk has a face on the screen that asks questions of travelers and can detect changes in physiology and behavior during the interview. The system can detect changes in the eyes, voice, gestures and posture to determine potential risk. It can even tell when you’re curling your toes.”

Here’s how it would work: Passengers would step up to the kiosk and be asked a series of questions such as, “Do you have fruits or vegetables in your luggage?” or “Are you carrying any weapons with you?” Eye-detection software and motion and pressure sensors would monitor the passengers as they answer the questions, looking for tell-tale physiological signs of lying or discomfort. The kiosk would also ask a series of innocuous questions to establish baseline measurements so people are just nervous about flying, for example, wouldn’t be unduly singled out.

Once the kiosk detected deception, they would flag those passengers for further scrutiny from human agents.

Elkins began working on AVATAR when he was a Ph.D. student at the University of Arizona. As the deception detection project grew more advanced and more sensors were added, more data about the interviewee was analyzed.

When Elkins became an assistant professor at SDSU in the fall of 2016, his work moved with him. Here, he is in the process in completing construction of his lab where he plans to continue researching and teaching students about artificial intelligence.

“We’ve come to realize that this can be used not just for border security, but also for law enforcement, job interviews and other human resources applications as well,” Elkins said. “We continue to make improvements, such as analyzing the collected data using Big Data analysis techniques that make AVATAR a potentially valuable tool across many industries.”

Secret $1.8 Million Cryptocurrency Script

In the meantime, Elkins is looking for a government agency willing to utilize the technology in a real-world application.

“AVATAR has been tested in labs, in airports and at border crossing stations,” Elkins noted. “The system is fully ready for implementation to help stem the flow of contraband, thwart fleeing criminals, and detect potential terrorists and many other applications in the effort to secure international borders.”

Source: San Diego State University

Image Credit: Aaron Elkins

By Nicholas West

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has announced a plan that could make Australia the world’s first country to implement a nationwide “contactless” system for processing its air travelers.

As The Sydney Morning Herald reports:

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection has sought technology that would abolish incoming passenger cards, remove the need for most passengers to show their passports and replace manned desks with electronic stations and automatic triage.

Officials are looking to use existing databases coupled with iris scans, facial recognition and fingerprint scans as the final phase of a five-year project called “Seamless Traveller” that is slated for completion by 2020. It’s all a part of the move toward a full-fledged Smart World where YOU become a digitally scanned device in a matrix of online and real-world activity.

Head of Australia’s border security, John Coyne, highlighted the rapid acceleration of biometric technology, as well as government access to the massive processing power of Big Data which he noted “is increasing exponentially.”  Furthermore, he flatly stated that such access is global.

The innovation was possible because of the massive amount of passenger data – including ticket information, travel history and criminal records – sourced globally and analysed in the back room, Dr Coyne said. [emphasis added]

Similar to other “smart traveler” initiatives, the first appeal is made to convenience. Anyone familiar with increasingly long lines and intrusive human security checks might welcome the project’s vision to enable travelers to literally walk into an airport and out the other side without a single interference. While that might be the focus message to the consumer, Coyne reveals the true heart of the mission.

Dr Coyne said it was all about “selective permeability”, or using intelligence to determine in advance which types of passengers posed a risk – and getting everyone else through more efficiently.

“All of this is about risk,” he said. “I think in Australia we’re doing exceptionally well.” [emphasis added]

Given the fact that biometric security itself has trickled down from use in war zones like Afghanistan to catalog potential terrorists, this would have to be the priority. Moreover, wherever these systems have popped up, abuses have been recorded.

Even in the “Land of the Free,” local police have been caught using biometrics without consent by harvesting information from unaccountable databases, which illustrates how easily purported border security measures can creep well beyond their stated intent.

As it turns out, the problem in the U.S. is much greater than that.  The FBI has been actively trying to exempt from privacy protections a massive national biometrics database called the Next Generation Identification (NGI) System.

And this is only what we know about … in a country that has constitutional protections for its citizens.

Secret $1.8 Million Cryptocurrency Script

As disparate biometrics systems from security to banking to travel and even to your home computer all begin to link up and cross communicate, globally, the possibility of widespread privacy violations increases exponentially.

For additional details about Australia’s plan for biometric processing for air travelers, please see the video below.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9IphOZWS-Y?feature=oembed&w=777&h=437]

Hat Tip: Technocracy.News

Image Credit: Pixabay.com

Nicholas West writes for ActivistPost.com. This article can be freely republished in part or in full with author attribution and source link.

Also Read: New Report Warns of Growing Biometric Surveillance State

By Mac Slavo

During the war on terrorism, Americans compromised their liberties to fight for freedom. Now, during the war on immigration, Americans will again be compelled to sacrifice liberties for American sovereignty.

In the name of security, anywhere, anytime. All measures will be justified, everyone will be authorized and the population will be controlled.

That is the moment we have arrived at in America.

A combination of policies that President Obama put into place, as well as fresh executive orders put in place by President Trump, have created a new front in the world of national security. They are now using biometrics to verify passport and identity, in the name of cracking down on immigration.

Additional scrutiny, and an over-bearing scent of Gestapo is again cropping up in airports, as yet another layer of surveillance is added to the line up.

Here’s a look at one version of the machines now being tested and phased in at airports and other checkpoints:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T09EYgHSOQg?feature=oembed&w=777&h=437]

Both visitors from abroad, and American citizens alike have now been required to submit to biometric iris scans in order to board a flight. Wow.

via Jeffrey Tucker of the Foundation of Economic Education:

For some 15 years, airport security has become steadily more invasive. There are ever more checkpoints, ever more requests for documents as you make your way from the airport entrance to the airplane. Passengers adapt to the new changes as they come. But my latest flight to Mexico, originating in Atlanta, presented all passengers with something I had never seen before.

We had already been through boarding pass checks, passport checks, scanners, and pat downs. At the gate, each passenger had already had their tickets scanned and we were all walking on the jet bridge to board. It’s at this point that most people assume that it is all done: finally we can enjoy some sense of normalcy.

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1526143560956-5'); });

This time was different. Halfway down the jetbridge, there was a new layer of security. Two US Marshals, heavily armed and dressed in dystopian-style black regalia, stood next to an upright machine with a glowing green eye. Every passenger, one by one, was told to step on a mat and look into the green scanner. It was scanning our eyes and matching that scan with the passport, which was also scanned (yet again).

Like everyone else, I complied. What was my choice? I guess I could have turned back at the point, decline to take the flight I had paid for, but it would be unclear what would then happen. After standing there for perhaps 8 seconds, the machine gave the go signal and I boarded.

I talked to a few passengers about this and others were just as shaken by the experience. They were reticent even to talk about it, as people tend to be when confronted with something like this.

I couldn’t find anyone who had ever seen something like this before. I wrote friends who travel internationally and none said they had ever seen anything like this.

I will tell you how it made me feel: like a prisoner in my own country. It’s one thing to control who comes into a country. But surveilling and permissioning American citizens as they leave their own country, even as they are about to board, is something else.

This isn’t required for all flights, yet.

This writer encountered a Homeland Security / U.S. Customs and Border Protection test at select airports… they are still working out the kinks.

But the question is, after all the frustrations that Americans had with flying after 9/11, and watching their liberties sacrificed at the altar of security, after dealing with ridiculously long lines – are Americans now willing sacrifice even more liberties and submit their biometric scans?

Unfortunately, they may be.

RFID Scan Blockers – Available for Free (Ad)

As a general mass, Americans have proved underwhelming in their opposition to invasions of privacy on the part of private corporations, especially those online and in computing and communication devices. They have also shrugged off and become immune to fifteen years of airport harassment and additional checks and scans.

Now, iris scans might even one day make security faster – but it’s a devilish tradeoff, and an enormous trust of power an agency that was created into existence out of the 9/11 emergency atmosphere, and which grows only when feeding the machine fear and terror.

Update: a reader has pointed me to this page at Homeland Security:

As part of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) border security mission, the agency is deploying new technologies to verify travelers’ identities – both when they arrive and when they leave the United States – by matching a traveler to the document they are presenting. CBP’s goal is to enhance national security and protect a traveler’s identity against theft through the use of biometrics.

Biometric information (such as finger, face, or iris) measures a person’s unique physical characteristics. CBP incorporated fingerprints for biometric identification and verification in 2004, and is now testing facial and iris imaging capabilities to help improve travelers’ identity protection, the integrity of our immigration system, and our national security.

I happened to be on the “one daily flight” that gets exit scanned.

Secret $1.8 Million Cryptocurrency Script

[…]

What people don’t often consider is that every rule that pertains to immigration ultimately applies to emigration as well. Every rule that government has to treat immigrants a certain way also necessarily applies to citizens as well.

Chandran Kukathas is right when he says that “controlling immigration means controlling everyone.” (source)

It looks like their tests have so far met with very little resistance, and all signs green, as support for Trump’s new order of police, border, military and security agencies are given new mandates to enforce laws, and take necessary measures to control borders, verify individuals and protect the country. That’s the narrative, and Americans are cheering it on with very little forethought about the consequences it could hold.

For now, Americans are willing to accept new controls.

That is, if nobody reawakens to the massive civil liberties issue that is going on.

Welcome Aboard, But First US Marshals Will Scan Your Retina, BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT FREE

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GceMTik358A?feature=oembed&w=777&h=437]

Read more:

• Under UN 2030 Plan, “Biometric ID Required For Everyone” On the Planet


• TSA Administrative Directive: Opt-Outters To Be Considered “Domestic Extremists”


• Special Ops Armed with Rapid DNA Scanners: “Get Ready for Advanced Biometric Warfare”


• Want Cash? Next-Gen ATMs Demand Biometric Verification: “Smartphone and Eye Scan To Dispense Money”

You can read more from Mac Slavo at his site SHTFplan.com

Also Read: Australia Aims To Be The First Country To Process Air Travelers Via Biometrics Nationwide

/* */




/* */

By Nicholas West

The desire for security, efficiency and convenience is a narrative that continues to incrementally condition the population to accept the erosion of privacy and civil liberties on a number of fronts. The modern-day airport can certainly test the patience of even the most saintly, so it’s somewhat understandable that people have come to hope for anything that promises to deliver them to the exit as rapidly as possible, and preferably with the least amount of contact with airport personnel.

The concurrent fear surrounding terrorists and immigrants (apparently understood now to be one and the same) further greases the slippery slope as we accelerate to a full-on police state where “papers please” is set to be replaced by a less-intrusive biometric scan. It appears that, once again, what many people believed would be restricted to border control measures for specific groups of people is set to trickle down to any and all of the traveling public.

Delta Airlines is announcing that beginning as soon as this summer, Minneapolis-St. Paul airport will have automated baggage kiosks for “priority customers” that will first scan a traveler’s passport, then their face in order to match identity to checked luggage. It is being promoted as a pilot program that Delta is seeking customer feedback for in the hope that it can be rolled out more widely in the future. This move is part and parcel of what is quickly becoming global in scope.

I reported back in January that Australia was seeking to become the first nation to implement biometric identification for all airports nationwide. And, as correctly noted by The Verge, other U.S. states and nations have begun their own programs with varying degrees of scale:

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1526143560956-5'); });

CBP [U.S. Customs and Border Protection – Ed.] began testing facial recognition systems at Dulles Airport in 2015, then expanded the tests to New York’s JFK Airport last year. Face-reading check-in kiosks will be appearing at Ottawa International Airport this spring, and British Airways is rolling out a similar system at London’s Heathrow Airport, comparing faces captured at security screenings with a separate capture at the boarding gate.

Source: The Verge

Naturally, Delta is ensuring that data and images will be limited and not retained, but at this point given the fact that naked images of travelers weren’t even properly protected by the TSA, we shouldn’t be so naive to think that leaks and/or abuses won’t occur. There could be limited hope that perhaps a private company would take better care of its customers than the government offers its citizens these days, but even that has been largely erased as story after story shows airlines treating people literally worse than cattle in some instances.

Whereas this limited initiative might be overlooked as insignificant in the grand scheme of surveillance and privacy violations, we would do well to remember how all of this started: incrementally. This should be viewed as an integral part of helping to lay the foundation of a much larger initiative to turn people into digital organisms with virtual papers. The political will is there, the databases exist, and the technology is being rolled out across every meaningful area of human activity.  Writer for The Verge, Andrew J. Hawkins, hits the nail on the head when he states:

Secret $1.8 Million Cryptocurrency Script

And as more people become more comfortable (or at least tolerant) with the idea that privacy doesn’t carry much weight at US airports, the use of these types of scanning processes is likely to grow more frequent.

Are you comfortable? Are you tolerant?

RFID Scan Blockers – Available for Free (Ad)

Nicholas West writes for ActivistPost.com. He also writes for Counter Markets agorist newsletter.

This article may be freely republished in part or in full with author attribution and source link.

Hat Tip: MassPrivateI

/* */




/* */

By Nicholas West

It appears that air travel is going to be the new frontier for high-tech privacy invasion taking place in the name of security, efficiency and convenience … and now “customer service.”

There was a time not long ago where rumblings about facial recognition and other forms of biometric identification for use in travel was dismissed as a science fiction that could not be achieved and that most people would not tolerate it if biometric ID ever became a reality. As I covered last week, this is science fiction no longer as airports around the United States and the world are beginning to implement biometrics at varying degrees of scale with little to no resistance from the traveling public.

It behooves us, then, to look at another trend that has been taking shape slowly but surely: augmented reality.

Google and Microsoft both have been investing heavily in augmented reality applications. Google, of course, has their Google Glass which has been met by a lukewarm reception at best, but the general idea to merge smartphone applications into a wearable interface is still being pursued with enthusiasm.

Microsoft began its foray into augmented reality in the entertainment arena. Now, however, it serves as an illustration of how this technology can spread into the lives of people who might have zero natural interest in video game or “smart” applications. According to News.com.au they might be subjected to it on future flights, as stated by Jonathan Glenister:

The Microsoft HoloLens allows you to combine holograms with the physical world around you … We worked with the Air New Zealand cabin crew to trial a Microsoft HoloLens application. The app uses cognitive services and surfaces relevant data about the passenger, their preferences and their journey.

The “data” about the passenger and their “preferences,” it turns out, is set to be incredibly invasive:

• through advanced facial technology, he is able to recall details about a passenger’s destination, allergies, and even the time since they got their last beverage.


• It even assesses the passenger’s mood. You can see his mood change from “anxious” to “calm” as the flight attendant addresses his concerns.

HoloLens was introduced to the public in 2016 as a concept for developers and businesses that carried a steep price tag of $3,000. It is interesting to see how the initial concept as covered by Mashable last year in the first video dovetails with how it is likely to be used by airlines, as shown in the second video. Essentially, as with all smart technology, it moves from a one-way consumer-directed application, to a two-way data collection system of tracking and surveillance. It is also worth keeping in mind that air travel is no longer a type of willing contract with a private company; under the umbrella of anti-terrorism, governments will also be very interested in this additional data and are likely to have easy access to it if requested.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSMP8d1BzRw?feature=oembed&w=777&h=437]

RFID Scan Blockers – Available for Free (Ad)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD1bsl3AEeI?feature=oembed&w=777&h=437]

The general concept that is being undertaken is to introduce a world of “Hyper-reality” where our everyday experience becomes overlaid with data points on everything from credit score, to social media presence, to consumer reports and preferences. It’s only in the testing phase at this point but, as we should know by now, the old maxim that “what the mind can conceive, it can achieve” was never truer than in today’s world of exponential growth in computing. To see where all of this could be heading, here is one possible future as augmented reality expands …

Secret $1.8 Million Cryptocurrency Script

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJg02ivYzSs?feature=oembed&w=777&h=437]

With two intelligence agency-connected tech behemoths like Google and Microsoft investing so vigorously in augmented reality, a “smart” future appears to be on the way sooner rather than later. And as government is now openly embracing a Minority Report-like future of pre-crime high-tech surveillance systems with an emotional component, we should probably ask ourselves if we are willing to accept these tests and how open we are to becoming the subjects.

Hat Tip: Technocracy.News

Nicholas West writes for ActivistPost.com. He also writes for Counter Markets agorist newsletter.

This article may be freely republished in part or in full with author attribution and source link.