"Smart City" is really government spying on an unimaginable scale
Published: October 15, 2016
Source: Mass Private I
(Smart PGH begins at 1:50)
"Smart PGH" (Smart City) and their 'smart spine system' is one of the most intrusive, government funded, TOTAL surveillance networks ever dreamed up. Columbus, Ohio, actually won $50 million in DOT grant money to turn their city into a "Smart City" calling it "SmartColumbus." The city of Columbus will receive an additional $90 million in pledges from public and private sector partners.
"Smart PGH's" tag line at the end of the above video is chilling, "If It's Not For All, It's Not For Us". As "Smart PGH's" documents reveal, 'smart city' surveillance spies on All of Us.
Pittsburgh, actually received close to $11 million to help turn their city into a "smart city".
SmartColumbus or Smart PGH what's the difference?
(Fast forward to approx., 2:18 to see the numerous corporations involved in 'Smart Cities' )
Not much is known about "SmartColumbus," but you can bet it's probably a carbon copy of "Smart PGH."
The document below, reveals "smart cities" are really just a euphemism for government spying on an unimaginable scale.
City of Pittsburgh's Proposal, Beyond Traffic: The Smart City Challenge (SCC)
The City of Pittsburgh sees the confluence of transportation and energy as the key to U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Smart City Challenge. To meet the challenge, we will develop an open platform and corresponding governance structure to improve the safety, equity, and efficiency of our transportation network and its interaction with the energy and communications networks.
By building on existing technology deployments and increasing fixed and mobile sensors over a number of major “Smart Spine” corridors that connect with primary commercial centers and amenities, Pittsburgh will collect, analyze, visualize, and act on information to improve mobility for residents. The non-proprietary nature of our platform allows the City of Pittsburgh and its partners to set an open, national standard for a municipal service delivery platform, which enhances industry and supports innovation.
By building on existing technology deployments and increasing fixed and mobile sensors over a number of major “Smart Spine” corridors that connect with primary commercial centers and amenities, Pittsburgh will collect, analyze, visualize, and act on information to improve mobility for residents. The non-proprietary nature of our platform allows the City of Pittsburgh and its partners to set an open, national standard for a municipal service delivery platform, which enhances industry and supports innovation.
According to the SCC, 'smart spines' use advanced technology like real-time adaptive traffic signals and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication at intersections.
"Smart PGH" is working with Uber to spy on customers. (see page 4)
It appears that "smart cities" are part of the government's "Vision Zero" program, see page 6 of SCC's 'Enabling Hierarchy' diagram. Also on page 6, under the subject 'Data Collection Network' they mention, "Social Media Assets" otherwise known as social media spying. (more on that below)
Uber, Lyft and Bike Share to spy on customers
Page 13:
In addition, we [Smart PGH] would like to work with Pittsburgh Bike Share, Uber, Lyft, and others to move towards more robust V2V communications that allow Port Authority buses, City fleet, bike share bicycles, ride-sharing services, etc. to become safer by sensing one another on Pittsburgh’s streets. Bicycle tracking has already begun, Ford Motor Company has given Palo Alto, $1.1 million to equip bicycles with GPS devices.
Joshuah Mello, the city’s chief transportation official, said the main draw of the new smart-bike system, operated by Motivate and sponsored by Ford, is that it will be part of a network growing in Bay Area cities from San Jose to San Francisco, “making it one of the largest systems in the entire world.”
What he should say is, this makes it one of the largest bicycle surveillance systems in the entire world!
Joshuah Mello, the city’s chief transportation official, said the main draw of the new smart-bike system, operated by Motivate and sponsored by Ford, is that it will be part of a network growing in Bay Area cities from San Jose to San Francisco, “making it one of the largest systems in the entire world.”
What he should say is, this makes it one of the largest bicycle surveillance systems in the entire world!
What follows, are some of the most chilling intrusions of government spying to date. (italics mine)
Govt spying on social media
Page 14:
Voluminous streams of data will be generated by sensors on fixed and mobile assets and citizens themselves using apps and social media.
Smart cities will spy on everyone's behavior and emotions
To address Vision Element #9, SmartPGH will deploy our “Citizens as Sensors” effort aimed at extracting relevant data from social media. Scrubbing these sites and app will provide information on what people are doing in different places across Pittsburgh, data that can be used to infer behavior and data that can detect changes in behavior due to physical modifications made by SmartPGH and the City of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh can more easily detect if the modifications it is making are producing the desired changes or if they are leading to unanticipated outcomes or unhappy residents.
For example, changes to the number of check-ins citizens make to restaurants and retail establishments following the parking rate change can provide evidence of how much this change has impacted dining and shopping behaviors, providing valuable feedback not just on residents emotional reactions but also the wider economic impact of such decisions.
"Citizens as Sensors" really, means government spying on social media posts, FourSquare, Twitter etc.,. Below is an excerpt from Page 12 of "Citizens as Sensors".
"At a different level many users volunteer information to Web 2.0 sites as a convenient way of making it available to friends and relations, irrespective of the fact that it becomes available to all."
Govt to spy on staircases, sidewalks, bicycles, trails, buses and trains
Moreover, residents utilize the city's unique system of 712 public staircases, 40 miles of on-street bike infrastructure, 31 miles of trails, and numerous sidewalksand on a daily basis. Companies like Sidewalk Labs, make a profit out of spying on pedestrians.
The Port Authority of Allegheny County operates a comprehensive transit network in the city, which includes 18.4 miles of busway, 26.2 miles of light rail, 72 local bus routes and two funiculars.
Power companies and the govt collaborate to spy on everyone
The City of Pittsburgh is in conversation with Duquesne Light and partner-company DQE Communications regarding the use of their extensive network of dark fiber. Most of the network capacity is currently “dark” and available for use by partners including the City of Pittsburgh. To make the most of their network, Duquesne Light recently built a wireless communication infrastructure to support the increased data-flow between their electric meters and the company’s centralized operating center. This effort has evolved into a high-capacity, resilient, wireless network covering the entirety of the City of Pittsburgh and the surrounding 817-square-mile service territory.
The grid of microgirds will spy on everyone's health, electrical and gas usage
The grid-of-microgrids is designed to connect critical infrastructure like hospitals, universities, and data and telecommunications centers. Other partners in the effort include the UPMC health system, NRG energy, Duquesne Light and People’s natural gas.
Govt spying on Pittsburgh residents is frightening
PennDOT’s Western Regional Traffic Management Center includes a fully integrated Centralized Software System, a Media Partner room that broadcasts live on-air reports of traffic conditions, and, a state of the art video wall capable of displaying 160 video images. The center monitors and/or controls ITS devices on 12 freeway corridors, including many within Pittsburgh's limits. These devices include: 293 CCTV cameras, 37 Highway Advisory Radio transmitter locations, 86 Highway Advisory Radio signs with beacons, 200 Microwave Traffic Detectors, 24 Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC) radios, 93 Digital Wave Radar Vehicular Detector units and many more specific ITS-related items.
List of govt agencies spying on residents:
The model for the WPRDC is unique because it is designed to be extensible and inclusive, able to host datasets from any municipality, non-profit, or researcher with data to share. By bringing together various levels of government, civil society, and academia around information resources, we have begun to improve our region’s capacity for innovation and evidence-driven policy-making.
The WPRDC’s web resources provide machine-readable data downloads and APIs of key administrative data on topics such as property assessment, building inspection, public health, crime, and asset management.
Seven companies work with Surtrac to spy on everyone
1.) Surtrac works with FLIR a thermal sensor company that specializes in identifying individual vehicles by their thermal signature. Surtrac was developed by Carnegie Mellon University, Surtracs' Econolite specializes in spying on motor vehicles. They also invented 'autoscope' surveillance cameras in the early 1990's. Fyi, Surtrac's Autoscope Vision (AV) also spies on bicyclists.
AV delivers stop bar vehicle and bicycle detection, advanced vehicle detection, bicycle differentiation, traffic data collection, and HD video surveillance.
Surtrac boasts, about they're newly-developed, full-field-of-view object-feature tracking. In other words, the government can track an individual vehicle or bicyclist throughout an entire city!
There are plans to integrate Surtrac with the Port Authority of Allegheny County bus fleets’ using 'Clever Devices'. (more on that below)
2.) Citilog, is a mirror image of Econolite but specializes in spying road sensors that are imbedded in every road, highway tunnel and bridge.
3.) Metrotech, turns current traffic intersection cameras into connected surveillance systems that spy on vehicles and Bluetooth signals.
4.) Wavetronix, can track an individual vehicles speed, even if they change lanes. Wavertronix also knows the type of vehicle you're driving, watch the video below to find out more.
5.) Traffic Control Products, bill themselves as a supplier of premium sensor equipment to the traffic industry. Currently their vehicle surveillance equipment is being used in Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Indiana and Michigan.
Traffic Control Products boasts about having a staff of software specialists that manage, their surveillance systems.
7.) Clever Devices, is a company that specializes in spying on trains and buses.
"SmartColumbus," "Smart PGH," "Smart City," "Vision Zero," CCTV cameras, license plate readers, Wi-Fi readers and Shotspotter are turning our cities into COMPLETE surveillance centers!
What's it going to take, to motivate an apathetic populace to speak out and demand a stop to govt spying?
"SmartColumbus," "Smart PGH," "Smart City," "Vision Zero," CCTV cameras, license plate readers, Wi-Fi readers and Shotspotter are turning our cities into COMPLETE surveillance centers!
What's it going to take, to motivate an apathetic populace to speak out and demand a stop to govt spying?
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