17 February

Description

On this day in 2015, a journalist from Scottish news website CommonSpace asked Glasgow City Council for a comment on the campaign against the Israeli military-grade facial recognition surveillance system deployed in Glasgow city centre. A City Council press spokesperson claimed that campaigners questioning the contract with Israeli company NICE Systems, wholly owned by Israeli arms company Elbit Systems, were "anti-Jewish". Asked to provide evidence to support this accusation, the press office was unable to.

17 فبراير

في مثل هذا اليوم من عام 2015 ، طلب صحفي من موقع الحيّز العام الإخباري الاسكتلندي من مجلس مدينة غلاسكو تعليقًا على الحملة ضد نظام المراقبة الاسرائيلي ذو الاغراض العسكرية للتعرف على هوية الوجه والمنتشر في وسط مدينة غلاسكو. ادعى متحدث صحفي باسم مجلس المدينة أن النشطاء الذين شككوا في العقد مع شركة أنظمة نايس الإسرائيلية ، المملوكة بالكامل لشركة الأسلحة الإسرائيلية( أنظمة البيت )، كانوا "معادين لليهود". وعندما طُلب من المكتب الصحفي تقديم أدلة لدعم هذا الاتهام ، لم يتمكن من ذلك.

Glasgow City Council Press Office claims critics of sinister Israeli surveillance contract are "anti-Jewish"
The use of the system has been criticised by Green MSP Patrick Harvie, as well as pro-Palestine campaigners and activists for civil liberties. Green Party co-convener Harvie told CommonSpace that there is a lack of “transparency and democratic oversight” surrounding the NICE Systems programme which creates “very real threats to our freedom”.

When CommonSpace first asked Glasgow City Council for comment, a press spokesperson claimed that campaigners questioning the contract with NICE were “anti-Jewish”. The council press team failed to provide any evidence to support this accusation.

According to its website, NICE uses data from “multiple sources, including telephones, CCTV video feed, emergency services radio communications, emails, chat, social media, and more”.

NICE systems provide facial recognition and ‘suspect search’ technology to clients. Suspect Search is a high-tech human-tracking software that can identify and track people based on their textures, colours or characteristics.

Chris Wooten, executive vice president of NICE Security Group said upon the award of the contract that the company was “very pleased to be a key player in safeguarding the city’s facilities”.

Wooten said: “Glasgow is the first city in the UK to earn a ‘Safe City’ status, fully utilising the capabilities that NICE Situator can provide.”

Surveillance company tied to Israeli military spying on Glasgow City Centre
Israeli surveillance technology was developed by the Israeli military to enforce an illegal occupation and carry out crimes against humanity in Palestine. NICE Systems uses data from "multiple sources, including phone calls, mobile apps, emails, chat, social media, video, and transactions".

The full extent of surveillance being carried out by Glasgow City Council remains unclear but NICE Security Group Vice-President Chris Wooten highlighted their "expertise in helping cities around the world manage day-to-day life, as well as large-scale events, from both a security and operational perspective. We...look forward to a continued partnership with the city of Glasgow...fully utilizing the capabilities that NICE Situator can provide."

Why emotional recognition software should be banned in Glasgow City Centre

AI Now Institute, an interdisciplinary research center studying the societal implications of artificial intelligence, called for a ban on technology designed to recognize people’s emotions in certain cases. Specifically, the researchers said affect recognition technology, also called emotion recognition technology, should not be used in decisions that “impact people’s lives and access to opportunities,” such as hiring decisions or pain assessments, because it is not sufficiently accurate and can lead to biased decisions.

Such Israel surveillance system is so sinister that some Israeli intelligence veterans refused to use it

Unit 8200 is the Israeli military's central intelligence gathering body and is often likened to the US National Security Agency (NSA). Several of those resigning told Israeli media that hey had been tasked with gathering private information - including sexual preferences and health problems - that could be "used to extort people into becoming informants".

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