Police: The public can't use "words in the English dictionary" to find out about secret facial recognition cameras (Updated)
image credit: Tony Webster
According to an article in Muckrock, the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) doesn't want the public to know about their 'secret' facial recognition cameras.
Police in Minneapolis are going to great lengths, to keep the public from discovering how they're being spied on.
Last weekend, Tony Webster was notified that the HCSO was asking the Supreme Court to postpone the release of their facial recognition documents.
“I sent the [FOI] request to a bunch of different agencies in the Twin Cities metro area and the state police, and for the most part none of them had any problem complying with the request in a proper manner. They provided the documents and emails and it was really no big deal,” he says. All except for the HCSO, in the county which seats Minneapolis and thus the most populous in the state.
The Star Tribune revealed that the HCSO has been secretly using facial recognition cameras since 2013.
Updated 5/10:
HCSO joined private-sector partnership 'Shield' program designed to spy on public
"The ability to quickly and effectively share crime trend information with our private-sector security partners gives us another prevention tool to ensure the highest level of safety and security for the residents of Hennepin County" Sheriff Rich Stanek said.
Is DHS and law enforcement using the 2018 Superbowl as an excuse to create a 'secret' facial recognition system?
“First and foremost I want access to the data because from the stuff I was able to see before the stay went into effect they’ve been using facial recognition technology for three years and it had never been disclosed to the public. They were also in talks with a vendor to do real time facial recognition with government and privately owned cameras in downtown Minneapolis.It seems that they are working toward a deadline for having some solution in place before the Super Bowl here next year. No one had seemed to know about this said Webster.”
According to another article written by Webster, Minnesota law enforcement are using Cognitec and Securonet to spy on everyone.
In a 2015 email, an HCSO employee wrote, “…we need to hook up Securonet with Cognitec and their VideoScan product.”
FaceVAC
Cognitec's FaceVACS system specializes in identifying people in real-time.
"FaceVACS-VideoScan detects and identifies persons of interest in real-time while computing demographic and behavioral data..." FaceVACS can also detect frequent visitors.
Earlier this year, I warned everyone that facial recognition cameras do more than just identify people, they detect a person's gender, age, ethnicity etc.
Securonet let's police use CCTV cameras to spy on everyone. Last year, I wrote a four-part series warning everyone that police are using private CCTV cameras to spy on the public.
Securonet
The above admission by Securonet should dispel any doubts about police using private CCTV cameras to spy on the public. (Law enforcement also uses GenICam software to spy on the public.)
Police deny FOI requests, for words used in the English Dictionary
For months, the HCSO has denied Webster's FOI requests, claiming it was too burdensome and more.
But I've never, seen such a brazen and disgusting argument by law enforcement to obfuscate government spying.
The HCSO decided to argue Webster's FOI request because he asked for a keyword search, they claimed his request wasn’t valid because they don’t store emails by “words in the English dictionary.” “Which is absurd right?” says Webster.
Fortunately, a judge ruled that law enforcement's 'English dictionary' argument was a play on words, meant to discourage the public.
“The County argues that Webster demanded data in a particular form, and it is not required to provide data in a particular form when the requested data is not kept in that form. The County is correct that it is not required “to provide the data in an electronic format or program that is different from the format or program in which the data are maintained by the government entity.”
“However,Webster did not request data in a different format or program than the County kept it in. Yet, rather than provide Webster PST files,the format in which the County maintains email messages, it provided the data in EML files. This was not at Webster’s request.”
DHS has succeeded in creating a 'secret national police force' who use the courts, facial recognition cameras, Stingray's, license plate readers etc., to spy on everyone.
For more information about police using CCTV cameras to spy on the public read Cognitec's Whitepaper, "The Advantages of Industrial Cameras for Face Recognition Applications."
Cognitec reveals how retail stores are using 'industrial' facial recognition cameras.
"In retail stores, industrial cameras pair with face recognition technology to support multiple use cases. The software can compare faces to image databases and identify known individuals. Retail staff can react in real-time to greet valued customers, observe or react to known shoplifters, and stop banned persons from entering."