[News] Israeli Face-Recognition Start-up ‘Secretly Tracking Palestinians’

[Anti-Imperialist News]

http://www.palestinechronicle.com/israeli-face-recognition-start-up-secretly-tracking-palestinians/ 



  Israeli Face-Recognition Start-up ‘Secretly Tracking Palestinians’

July 15, 2019 <http://www.palestinechronicle.com/2019/07/>
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A start-up known as “Israel’s most high-profile biometric recognition 
firm” is playing a key role in monitoring Palestinians at checkpoints in 
the occupied West Bank, reported Haaretz.

According to the article, Anyvision Interactive Technologies “is taking 
part in two special projects in assisting the Israeli army in the West 
Bank”.

One project “involves a system that it has installed at army checkpoints 
that thousands of Palestinians pass through each day on their way to 
work from the West Bank.”

    This Israeli face-recognition startup is secretly tracking
    Palestinians https://t.co/darX01Wk3M

    — Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) July 14, 2019
    <https://twitter.com/haaretzcom/status/1150512952346152960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

In a statement in February, the army said that “27 biometric crossings” 
had been established in the West Bank, as part of a “wide-ranging” 
effort to “upgrade” the checkpoints in question.

The second project, however, “is much more confidential”, 
reported Haaretz, and “includes facial recognition technology elsewhere 
in the West Bank, not just at border crossings”, as “cameras deep inside 
the West Bank try to spot and monitor potential Palestinian assailants”.

Anyvision’s president, Amir Kain, is the former head of Malmab, the 
Defense Ministry’s security department, while one of the company’s 
advisers is Tamir Pardo, a former head of Mossad.

    This Israeli face-recognition #startup
    <https://twitter.com/hashtag/startup?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
    is secretly tracking Palestinians  Haaretz Anyvision has cameras
    deep inside the West Bank, allowing the army to quickly identify
    whether the person passing through ha… https://t.co/dCy3rCN7W4 via
    @theafricamentor
    <https://twitter.com/TheAfricaMentor?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw> #africabiz
    <https://twitter.com/hashtag/africabiz?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
    #entrepreneur
    <https://twitter.com/hashtag/entrepreneur?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
    pic.twitter.com/ZUJBxun4I6 <https://t.co/ZUJBxun4I6>

    — Africa Mentor (@TheAfricaMentor) July 14, 2019
    <https://twitter.com/TheAfricaMentor/status/1150537080667291648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

The company claims to operate in 43 countries and at more than 350 
locations such as stadiums, airports and casinos, and recently raised 
$31 million from Microsoft’s M12 venture capital fund.

As reported by Haaretz, “Anyvision’s involvement in the West Bank is 
being revealed amid a lively debate around the world on the use of 
biometric technology, especially facial recognition.”

    The Israeli army is "collecting the personal details of West Bank
    Palestinians, as part of its surveillance of public spaces. To this
    end, soldiers conduct patrols & set up temporary checkpoints. Young
    men who pass through are required to fill out a form."
    https://t.co/8IG8KQ3htZ

    — Ben White (@benabyad) March 7, 2018
    <https://twitter.com/benabyad/status/971312529111764994?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

According to the paper, “the Israeli surveillance operation in the West 
Bank is undoubtedly among the largest of its kind in the world. It 
includes monitoring the media, social media and the population as a 
whole — and now it turns out also the biometric signature of West Bank 
Palestinians.”

/(Middle East Monitor, PC, Social Media)/

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