Nexus - 0220 - New Times Magazine-pages

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GLOBAL NEWS the world's first robot security camera, able “It is desired that no document be to roam, without being seen, about build- released which refers to experiment with ings, quietly watching staff and others at humans and might have adverse effect on work. public opinion or result in legal suits. Known as Tracam, it consists of acolour Documents covering such work should be television camera that runs at up to 8 km classified secret." per hour on a rail inside a dark perspex tun- Thus the true enemy is identified: public nel fixed to the ceiling. opinion. And the means to defeat the Although the camera can see through the enemy? Classification! perspex, it is almost impossible for anyone (Source: | i to see into the tunnel. #33, March 1994) By adding infrared sensors, the robot camera could follow people anywhere DRUGS COMPANIES ARE within a building. BRIBING DOCTORS Plus, an electronic card which can be A doctor who accepts money from a attached to visitor passes is under develop- drug company to perform research or to ment. The card would enable the camera to attend or speak at a symposium is 19 times find and pursue a particular person any- more likely to request a drug manufactured where in a large office block or warehouse. _ by that company than doctors who have not About 80 Tracam systems are operating had contact with that company. around the world. The first customer, In a recent issue of the Journal of the British Post, began installing Tracam in American Medical Association, two 1992. researchers, Mary-Margaret Chren and It is suggested that employers could use Seth Landefeld of the Case Western the mobile cameras to observe staff rela- Reserve University School of Medicine in tionships, who people talked to, and even Cleveland, reveal that doctors who tried to monitor body language. add to their hospital's stock were those with (Source: The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 the strongest links to drug companies. February 1994) (Source: New Scientist, 12 March 1994) PROTECTING GOVERNMENT AGAINST THE PUBLIC BIG BROTHER FEARS OVER One of the more remarkable documents HI-TECH POLICE to emerge from the Energy Department's The New Zealand Police force is propos- openness initiative is a 1947 Atomic _ ing to buy a multi-million-dollar supercom- Energy Commission memorandum on the puter which will give it the world's most classification of human radiation experi- sophisticated intelligence system. ments. It states: If approved, the national Integrated “It is desired that no document be released which refers to experiment with humans and might have adverse effect on public opinion or result in legal suits. Documents covering such work should be classified secret." Thus the true enemy is identified: public opinion. And the means to defeat the enemy? Classification! (Source: rn i #33, March 1994) comet in the inner solar system. He sug- gests that this event may have been associ- ated with the most recent ice age, which began about 100,000 years ago. According to Clube, it produced a stream of material that orbits the Sun and is linked with the Taurid meteor stream, which peaks around 30th June in daylight hours but is visible as ‘shooting stars’ in the night skies of November each year. Clube calculates that the Earth passes through the thickest part of this belt of debris every 3,000 years. This happened most recently in 500 AD and, before that, in 2,500 BC. (Source: New Scientist, 26 March 1994) MOBILE SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS There recently appeared on Australian television a documentary on the wonders of hidden video cameras. While the program did show several pos- itive examples of hidden videos catching crooks and corrupt politicians in the act, it wound up the show by saying, in effect, that video surveillance cameras are good, and only those with something to hide need worry about them. In other words, this was a blatant grab at convincing gullible TV watchers that hid- den video surveillance cameras are good for them. Well, the next step in video surveillance has arrived. An Australian company, Trafalgar Security, has developed what it believes is BIG BROTHER FEARS OVER HI-TECH POLICE The New Zealand Police force is propos- ing to buy a multi-million-dollar supercom- puter which will give it the world's most sophisticated intelligence system. If approved, the national Integrated Crime Information System (INCIS) will lead the world. The proposed INCIS system, estimated to be worth around NZ$80 million, is even more powerful than one being installed by New South Wales Police in Australia. The Australian system is able to cross- reference names, places and dates, and identify “persons of interest" in a street or locality where a crime has been committed. “Persons of interest" include anyone who has a criminal history, a warrant out against them, is the subject of an intelligence report or a domestic violence order, holds a gun licence, has a history of mental illness, is a crime victim or a crime suspect. Basically, this means that when the NSW police visit a crime scene, they can flash up on their computer everyone living in that district who is on their already substantially cross-referenced files. (Source: Sunday Star Times (NZ), 10 April 1994) HOW TRACAM WORKS to travel up to hour Smoked Perspex tube conceals camera as it travels around track JUNE - JULY 1994? 8eNEXUS