Federally-Funded Street Lights Capable of “Recording Conversations”

[Gotholic]

Orwellian ‘Intellistreets’ system now being installed in major cities

Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Federally-funded high-tech street lights now being installed in American cities are not only set to aid the DHS in making “security announcements” and acting as talking surveillance cameras, they are also capable of “recording conversations,” bringing the potential privacy threat posed by ‘Intellistreets’ to a whole new level.

In the days after we first brought attention to the privacy concerns surrounding the new street lights, with our story featuring prominently on the Drudge Report website, the company behind them, Illuminating Concepts, went on the defensive, issuing a press release claiming the devices didn’t represent a “big brother” intrusion.

However, as you can see from the video above, ‘Intellistreets’ is big brother on steroids. George Orwell himself would probably have considered the concept too far-fetched to appear in the dystopian classic 1984.

Not only can the street lights, now being rolled out in Detroit, Chicago and Pittsburgh with Department of Energy backing, act as surveillance cameras, Minority Report-style advertising hubs, and Homeland Security alert systems, they are “also capable of recording conversations,” reports ABC 7.

In their press release, the company behind the street lights also denied that they had received DHS funding for the system. In the aftermath of the controversy generated last week, ABC 7 reports that owner Ron Harwood is now “working with Homeland Security” to implement the high tech network, which is connected via a ubiquitous wi-fi system.

Harwood told the Detroit Free Press that the street lights will “make us feel not only safer, but happier,” representing how “business and government can work together for economic, environmental and social benefits.”

Harwood’s claim that the technology doesn’t represent a privacy threat simply because its rollout it “transparent” carries no weight whatsoever. Just because the installation of these street lights is being done publicly and not in secret has no bearing whatsoever on the frightening implications for privacy this development poses.

The video clip includes creepy footage of the street lights being used to transmit Orwellian security alerts, including “pay attention please….please stand by for a public safety announcement,” and “this is a security alert”. Every “security” announcement you’ve heard in airports and subways can now be brought to steet level.

The street lights can also give audible warnings to individuals, mimicking the talking surveillance cameras in the UK that shout out orders through loudspeakers telling people to pick up litter or leave the area.

“By Spring of next year there is a good chance you could see them pop up in your city,” states the report.

It goes without saying that this is a complete violation of the 4th amendment and represents a whole new level in America’s transformation into a high-tech police state. Not even the most out-there dystopian films featured technology as sophisticated and as potentially invasive as ‘Intellistreets’.

Without any public discourse, without any legal oversight, these systems are now being installed on the streets of America. Citizens already browbeaten into accepting the fact that their every movement can be tracked and traced by surveillance cameras will now be told to accept that the government recording private conversations on the street is a necessary step to provide “safety and security,” as the Homeland Security occupation of America takes on a whole new dimension.

*********************

Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a regular fill-in host for The Alex Jones Show.

Source

 

[2minkey]

why does this matter? they already have your IP.

try making a legal argument for any expectation of privacy in any public or commercial space.

 

[Gotholic]

why does this matter? they already have your IP.

try making a legal argument for any expectation of privacy in any public or commercial space.

Here's my little stab at it. The 4th Amendment states:

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." Emphasis added.

It does not say you do not have these rights in a public place. You can walk down a street with a backpack but since you are in a public place it does not mean your backpack can be searched or your cellphone too for that matter. You can walk down the street and have a conversation with a friend and the police could follow you and try to eavesdrop, sure, however I would argue that you cannot be targeted by the authorities unless there is a warrant.

What about blanket surveillance as with these lights that can record conversations or record video or even "traffic" cameras being put all over the place? Sure, there are no targets there since it covers everyone (although it is possible to target people with this technology). I would argue that you have a reasonable expectation of privacy through obscurity. Your 4th Amendment right would be violated if you go beyond a person's own natural means of interaction within a public place. In other words, just because I can watch you from my house through my window as you walk down the street does not mean I can then watch you with a satellite as you go about your activities in public. Thus all these camera's in public spaces and these new lights are an invasion of privacy.

If the police want to follow you, they have to send a person to follow you (no warrant is needed as anyone could follow anyone legally. as are taking public pictures). But if they want to record audio and video or use sophisticated technology to track you which no person of his own natural means can do then they need a warrant.

This is how I think it should be.

 

[Gonz]

There is no expectation of privacy in public

 

[Gotholic]

There is no expectation of privacy in public

So then your belongings can be searched if you walk down the street against your will?

I can put a GPS device in your car to follow you then?

You do not have total privacy in public. You do have privacy to a degree. Privacy through obscurity is what you have, you are not distinguished, public official, etc. You are a private citizen. The moment the authorities want to shine a light on you, they should have to obtain a warrant.

 

[2minkey]

interesting thoughts but targeting an individual successfully and intensively is a fairly huge deal for a bureaucratic agency. not saying it doesn't happen. in fact i know a guy whose mom fucked wavy gravy, and he said that... i just don't think any of us deserve that much attention. but, hey, there is also the case of the the guy i used to buy my hommus from... i think he did deserve a little extra attention.

throughout history resistance groups have used metaphor and euphemism - the comics - in their songs, art, and discourse. and every time they've been cornholed in a supreme way. get with the program, dude.

generally, though, i do agree with your viewpoint here.

 

[catocom]

So then your belongings can be searched if you walk down the street against your will?

I can put a GPS device in your car to follow you then?

yes on both counts.
They don't even have to have probable cause in this state now.

 

[Gotholic]

yes on both counts.
They don't even have to have probable cause in this state now.

What about the recent Supreme Court ruling?

 

[catocom]

That's at the fed level.
The locals here don't give a crap.