Latest Snowden Leak reveals a new Game of NSA that is being played with you, and we are not aware of something like this is happening in back-end.
NSA is filling up its database of facial recognition systems through intercepting millions of photographs that are being posted online everyday, NY Times reports.
If we take a look to the report of NY Times, so we extracted that National Security Agency is collecting approximate 55,000 ‘facial recognition quality images’ per day.
From when you are being captured by NSA?
Reports say that this work is in progress since 2009 after the two thwarted terrorist attacks, the first attempted in 2009 by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian, when he attempted to trigger a bomb hidden in his underwear while flying to Detroit on Christmas in 2009. The second was in May 2010, when Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistani-American, attempted a car bombing in Times Square.
NSA is focusing on collecting identifies such as facial photos and fingerprints to traditional oral and written communication.
What NSA says?
NSA does not have access to state driver’s license pictures, nor passport photos. The spokeswoman declined to say whether or not the NSA was collecting facial imagery of Americans through social media.
The Image Collection program:
A tool or program which is being used by NSA to collect facial images called Wellspring, which takes out images from emails and other communications, and then displays those that might contain passport images.
NSA also using commercially available facial recognition technology, including PittPatt, a small company purchase by Google in 2011.
Some questions from my side?
How NSA using the Pittpatt service, which is not available for anyone. Google bought that in 2011 for its Google+ service, However service didn’t resume as per the personal privacy concerns. Former Google CEO and current executive chairman Eric Schmidt has warned that Google would not apply facial recognition technology because of the privacy concerns.
So Google has some strong relationship with NSA? We can’t say, but we still remember the past :)
