I SPY WITH MY NETWORKED EYE

摘要

The federal government is implementing video surveillance to help combat everything from traffic offenses to terrorist activity to illegal immigration. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's FY06 budget, for example, earmarked $51.1 million for the America's Shield Initiative, which enhances electronic-surveillance capabilities along our borders; that's an increase of $19.8 million over FY05. In August 2005, New York's transit authority awarded Lockheed Martin a $212 million contract, which includes installation of 1,000 cameras and related equipment in city subway stations, bridges and tunnels. Such projects, however, are few and far between. Compared with that in Europe, the level of surveillance in U.S. enterprises and municipalities is pitifully low. The sophisticated systems we see in movies may exist in large gaming houses, financial firms and a few select transportation installations, but most organizations still use VCR tapes to store low-resolution video camera output—if they store video at all. Many simply pipe feeds to banks of monitors for real-time viewing. But is anyone watching?