SurveillanceDHS seeks camera that sees hundreds of kilometers at once
DHS is interested in adding powerful military technology to its growing arsenal of surveillance equipment; the agency is considering new cameras that will be able to track and monitor several moving objects simultaneously over as much as four square miles
DHS is interested in adding powerful military technology to its growing arsenal of surveillance equipment.
The agency recently issued a call to industry to solicit feedback for a “Wide Area Surveillance System.”
According to DHS documents, the camera system will ideally have the ability to “provide persistent, long-term surveillance over urban and rural terrain.” More specifically, the new cameras will be able to track and monitor several moving objects simultaneously over as much as four square miles. When not in tracking mode, officials hope the cameras can see “ten to hundreds of kilometers in extent” over remote border areas.
Ultimately, the agency hopes to outfit these sophisticated camera systems to a surveillance plane or one of its unmanned drones. Much like the military drones in operation over Iraq and Afghanistan, DHS wants to be able to receive real-time video feeds that are beamed into a control room. Each of the cameras will be equipped with day, night, and low-light sensors as well as automatic, real-time motion detection capability to target moving objects for identification.
Compared to the latest military camera sensors which can monitor thirty-six square miles at a time or whole cities, DHS’ proposal is relatively small, but the use of such surveillance in the United States raises legal questions about the limits of surveillance.
Spencer Ackerman of Danger Room writes, “Those [military surveillance] systems are used against insurgents, who are not protected by the Fourth Amendment’s prohibitions on unreasonable searches. Even if the wide-area surveillance DHS is after is just used at borders or airports, those are still places where Americans go about their business, under the presumption that they’re not living in a government panopticon.”
Ackerman goes on to say that with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan winding down, military surveillance technology may increasingly be used by domestic law enforcement agencies sparking legal battles over how it can be used.
“The wars will end; the spy tech won’t,” he concludes. “And it might be keeping tabs on your neighborhood next.”
