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Above: a checkpoint on the Israeli-Palestine border

Introduction – Dec 13, 2020

Are we heading toward a world that could have come from a dystopian science fiction fantasy? Did George Orwell and Aldous Huxley envisage the sort of future that may be in store for us?

Recent developments suggest that we could indeed be en route to such a world. Only it could be far worse than the one portrayed in 1984 or Brave New World.

A number of companies are developing Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications for use in border control. In other words AI could soon be used to monitor and control human movement and not only over national borders.

Being a liberal outlet, the Guardian focuses on the potential threat this technology has for “people of colour” and those with “disabilities”. However, this technology poses a potential threat to all of humanity and not just the Guardian’s favoured victims.

For example, this surveillance technology could be used in area denial and access control anywhere and in any circumstances. In fact, it already is being used on the Israeli-Palestine border, where it helps to monitor and control the movement of Palestinians into and out of Jerusalem.

The crucial factor is who programs this technology and how it will be applied. Given the fact that Bill Gates’ Microsoft is already applying AI technology in the West Bank, after it was developed in secret, there’s good reason for concern.

As others have pointed out, we could all be heading to a similar fate to that currently endured by Palestinians.

AI technology could soon be used to control more than movement across national borders though. For example, the day may not be far off where designated zones may only be available for a privileged few. Certain upmarket suburbs, shopping districts, cultural venues, health and recreational facilities and vast and unspoilt national parks would be accessible only for those above a certain asset ranking.

While the same AI technology could be used to exclude those below a certain pay grade, from vast areas of the planet designated “wilderness”.

If this is to happen then as far as the elite are concerned there is one major obstacle to overcome. To realise their vision of utopia the global population would need to be greatly reduced the g;oba; population from the current estimate of 8 billion to less than one billion.

In fact former Russian intelligence officer Colonel Vladimir Kvachkov, told an interviewer recently that “depopulation” was an integral part of the elite’s agenda, effectively confirming this

This means that those who don’t protect or serve a chosen few, in other words the greater part of humanity, will survive at little more than subsistence level. Like most Palestinians today, this could be the fate for humanity.

Sci-fi surveillance: Europe’s secretive push into biometric technology

Zach Campbell, Caitlin L. Chandler and Chris Jones – The Guardian Dec 10, 2020

Patrick Breyer didn’t expect to have to take the European commission to court. The softly spoken German MEP was startled when in July 2019 he read about a new technology to detect from facial “micro-expressions” when somebody is lying while answering questions.

Even more startling was that the EU was funding research into this virtual mindreader through a project called iBorderCtrl, for potential use in policing Europe’s borders. In the article that Breyer read, a reporter described taking a test on the border between Serbia and Hungary. She told the truth, but the AI border guard said she had lied.

A member of the European parliament’s civil liberties committee and one of four MEPs for the Pirate party, Breyer realised that iBorderCtrl’s ethical and privacy implications were immense. He feared that if such technology – or as he now calls it, “pseudo-scientific security hocus pocus” – was available to those in charge of policing borders, then people of colour, women, elderly people, children and people with disabilities could be more likely than others to be falsely reported as liars.

Using EU transparency laws, he requested more information from the European commission on the ethics and legality of the project. Its response was jarring: access denied, in the name of protecting trade secrets.

So Breyer sued. He wants the European court of justice to rule that there is an overriding public interest in releasing the documents. “The European Union is funding illegal technology that violates fundamental rights and is unethical,” Breyer claimed.

Breyer’s case, which is expected to come before the court in the new year, has far-reaching implications. Billions of euros in public funding flow annually to researching controversial security technologies, and at least €1.3bn more will be released over the next seven years

Faces, voices, veins

 

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