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<div class="header reader-header reader-show-element"> <font
size="-2"><a class="domain reader-domain"
href="http://www.palestinechronicle.com/israeli-face-recognition-start-up-secretly-tracking-palestinians/">http://www.palestinechronicle.com/israeli-face-recognition-start-up-secretly-tracking-palestinians/</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">Israeli Face-Recognition Start-up
‘Secretly Tracking Palestinians’</h1>
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<div class="reader-estimated-time"><span
class="entry-meta-date updated"><a
href="http://www.palestinechronicle.com/2019/07/">July
15, 2019</a></span></div>
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<p><span>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 <span>Haaretz</span>.</span></p>
<p><span>According to the article, Anyvision Interactive
Technologies “is taking part in two special projects
in assisting the Israeli army in the West Bank”.</span></p>
<p><span>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.”</span></p>
<blockquote data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">This Israeli face-recognition
startup is secretly tracking Palestinians <a
href="https://t.co/darX01Wk3M">https://t.co/darX01Wk3M</a></p>
<p>— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) <a
href="https://twitter.com/haaretzcom/status/1150512952346152960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July
14, 2019</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span>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.</span></p>
<p><span>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”.</span></p>
<p><span>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.</span></p>
<blockquote data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">This Israeli face-recognition <a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/startup?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#startup</a>
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… <a href="https://t.co/dCy3rCN7W4">https://t.co/dCy3rCN7W4</a>
via <a
href="https://twitter.com/TheAfricaMentor?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@theafricamentor</a>
<a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/africabiz?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#africabiz</a>
<a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/entrepreneur?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#entrepreneur</a>
<a href="https://t.co/ZUJBxun4I6">pic.twitter.com/ZUJBxun4I6</a></p>
<p>— Africa Mentor (@TheAfricaMentor) <a
href="https://twitter.com/TheAfricaMentor/status/1150537080667291648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July
14, 2019</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span>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.</span></p>
<p><span>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.”</span></p>
<blockquote data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">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." <a
href="https://t.co/8IG8KQ3htZ">https://t.co/8IG8KQ3htZ</a></p>
<p>— Ben White (@benabyad) <a
href="https://twitter.com/benabyad/status/971312529111764994?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March
7, 2018</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span>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.”</span></p>
<p><em>(Middle East Monitor, PC, Social Media)</em></p>
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