The Selfie Surveillance State: How Digital ID Systems May Soon Decide if You Fly
In the US, the Remote Identity Validation Technology Demonstration (RIVTD) – a scheme to evaluate biometric digital ID systems that has been in the works since 2022, is now in the final stages of development.
The involved government agencies include the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Forensic Laboratory, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
Among the things RIVTD is there to evaluate and assess is identity verification when photos are taken with phones, including the “liveliness of selfies.”
The system is being developed in three stages – called “tracks” – of which the third and final, dedicated to said “liveliness,” is now in progress. The idea here is to ensure that a true selfie is submitted, instead of an image of a digital or physical photograph.
Another thing those behind RIVTD want to avoid is people using masks instead of “taking an actual selfie in real-time,” say reports.
The first two “tracks” concerned the assessment of the validity of documents like ID cards or driver’s licenses, with the second turning the focus on how selfies match photos on ID documents.
The need for all this is explained by TSA as a way to fend off “bad actors or impersonators” in the looming world of remote self-enrollment that uses a person’s digital identity.
The DHS, on the other hand, talks about “risk-based decision-making.”
“Such decision making may involve determining whether an individual is eligible to receive specific services or benefits or ascertaining if an individual is a known or suspected threat,” the agency is quoted as stating.
RIVTD is to be used in both REAL ID and “legacy documents” – and REAL ID “compliance” will from May 2025 be necessary for documents travelers use for domestic flights in the US.
The digital version of REAL ID is coming soon, thanks to the REAL ID Modernization Act.
If you wonder what happens to the biometric data and photos that TSA collects, the agency says they are deleted once the identity verification process is complete. Except, that is – when it’s stored for up to two years.
One of the reasons is to be able to launch systems like RIVDT – i.e., data retention is justified by the need to help with “testing and development.”
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Berlin’s Brave New World: Secret Police Powers Spark Fear of Orwellian Overreach
In Germany, the current authorities seem willing to dramatically depart from what have until now been Western democratic traditions, where law enforcement must have a crime to investigate, and a warrant to do so before it engages in searches and surveillance.
However, the government in Berlin plans to allow the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) the legal right to enter homes secretly (including for the purpose of installing spyware on people’s phones and computers.) In addition, BKA would be given the power to, also secretly, search homes.
The draft, seen by the German press, was cooked up at the Federal Ministry of the Interior and was explained by a spokesman as a needed reform of the BKA law in order to prevent “the dangers of international terrorism” and chose to single out “Islamist terrorism” as an example.
The promise here is that the BKA would use the new rights only to fight what they choose to consider terrorist activity, along with “a high bar” in place determining which case qualifies for this kind of treatment.
Judging by the statement of the same spokesman, German law enforcement now clearly doesn’t have “appropriate powers” to tackle the problem, hence the necessity to reform the law.
As for any details that would further clarify the situation, the Interior Ministry would not provide them as the planned reform is “still at a very early stage of internal government coordination.”
Among the early critics of this is the German Journalists’ Association, whose chairman Mika Beuster said that “secret break-ins are reminiscent of the methods of police states, not of liberal democracies.”
Meanwhile, such a shift in the way terrorist threat is investigated has the opposition – notably the rising Alternative for Germany (AfD), suspect that this will be used as yet another tool to go after political opponents.
AfD, and even media outlets supportive of its policies, have recently faced an unprecedented crackdown, led by Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.
And now, the draft amendment of the law, also coming from her office, is dismissed by AfD MP Beatrix Von Storch as appearing to use the fight against terrorism as the pretext – “and the reason is more likely to be that she intends to further intimidate and monitor citizens and, last but not least, to persecute any government critics.”
Kiev Launches Attack on Russian Nuclear Site
A small Ukrainian drone carrying an anti-tank grenade attempted to reach the Kursk nuclear power plant overnight, news agency TASS reported on Friday, citing a local police source.
The unmanned aerial vehicle was intercepted by electronic warfare countermeasures and downed near a spent nuclear fuel storage facility, according to the report. TASS released photos of the aircraft and its payload. It featured the logo of the Army of Drones, a Ukrainian government project aimed at ramping up the availability of such aircraft for its forces, the agency said.
Earlier this month, Kiev sent thousands of troops into Kursk Region in a bid to seize Russian territory. The nuclear power plant is located near the city of Kurchatov, some 60km from the border. Russian officials have accused Kiev of launching attacks on the facility amid the incursion.
Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, described the latest incident as an act of “nuclear terrorism.” She called for a response by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog.
IAEA Director Rafael Grossi is scheduled to visit the Kursk power plant next week at the invitation of the Russian government. He is expected to visit Kiev afterwards.
READ MORE: Ukraine tried to attack Russian nuclear plant – Putin
”Military activity in the vicinity of a nuclear power plant is a serious risk to nuclear safety and security,” the UN official said on Thursday. “My visit to KNPP next week will provide us with timely access to independently assess the situation.”
Facial Recognition Continues to Proliferate at Concerts and Festivals
The trend of employing facial recognition devices in any place where a large number of people gather and circulate – such as airports, stadiums, and even the high street – is becoming clear and evident.
The entertainment industry is no exception, with proliferation continuing at pace at concert venues and festivals.
Those who fear increasingly efficient mass surveillance as the result of this trend see the reason for that fear precisely in the scale of the biometric data captured in these places.
But those pushing for more and more adoption say this is done to ensure security (prevent ticket scalping, and such) and speed things up – aka, “streamline access” by avoiding long queues.
That’s essentially a call to “embrace convenience” in exchange for true security, and privacy – and it’s a call most people find hard to resist.
In the US, many stadiums that are venues for games played as part of professional leagues are already using what reports call “advanced systems,” while companies like Denso Wave are emerging as key sellers.
Denso Wave’s original “claim to fame” was QR tech, but now, facial recognition has been “integrated” into this, with the product, Secure QR Code (SQRC) used at festivals and other similar events.
In the sports world, it is not just the US and the likes of the MLB (The Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati now “boasts” facial recognition) that are examples of the proliferation of facial recognition targeting fans.
Nor is Japan’s Denso the only industry “leader” – biometric ID verification is also actively developed and sold by the Korea Creative Content Agency, among many others. This particular company stepped in to “secure” K-Pop concert tickets.
In Europe, ticket sellers and football venues in countries as far apart as Denmark and Cyprus have all turned to facial recognition-powered surveillance, and this is always presented as something positive – such as a “clamp down on scalping” that is at the same time “user friendly.”
In Denmark, this concerns Ticketbutler partnering with Noticket, a company that promises to “revolutionize events with modern technology” by providing an “event tool” that combines precise data collection for organizers.
UK Announces Crackdown on Illegal Immigration
London is set to introduce a series of new measures aimed at tackling illegal immigration into the UK and at strengthening the country’s border security, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has announced.
According to a Wednesday statement, over the next six months the government plans to achieve the “highest rate of removals of those with no right” to be in the country since 2018, including asylum seekers whose applications have failed.
“We are taking strong and clear steps to boost our border security and ensure the rules are respected and enforced,” Cooper stated.
The new measures include the immediate recruitment of up to 100 new specialist intelligence and investigation officers at the National Crime Agency (NCA) to “disrupt and smash criminal smuggling gangs and prevent dangerous boat crossings.”
The government also revealed plans to increase its detention capacity, with 290 new beds at the Campsfield and Haslar Immigration Removal Centres.
In addition, a new intelligence-driven illegal working program will be rolled out to target, investigate and take down “unscrupulous employers who illegally employ those with no right to work here.”
“A range of sanctions, including financial penalty notices, business closure orders and potential prosecution, will be taken against those employing illegal workers,” the statement reads. “Those caught working illegally and eligible for removal will be detained, pending their swift removal.”
READ MORE: Majority of Brits blame immigration for unrest – poll
According to The Independent, critics have called the government plans “a waste of taxpayer money,” claiming that they lack detail and fail to recognize “the dignity and humanity of migrants,” particularly in the wake of recent riots that targeted hotels housing asylum seekers across the country.
The new plan means more than 14,000 deportations by the end of the year, the newspaper wrote on Wednesday. However, the figure is far lower than the 45,000 returned in 2010 under the former Labor government and less than the 19,000 migrants who have arrived in Britain by crossing the Channel in small boats so far this year, The Independent also noted.
Official statistics show that, with legal and illegal immigration combined, some 1.2 million people moved to the UK last year, 85% of them from outside the EU.