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                Date: 2001-02-02
                 
                 
                Biometrics: Ein boeser Traum aus Tampa
                
                 
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      Ein Stadion, ein Spiel, ein Publikum und eine gesetzlich  
ermächtigte Behörde, die alle Gesichter scannt. Im Spektrum  
der Software-Kollaborateure ist auch Raytheon vertreten, ein  
seit Jahrzehnten bekanntes Unternehmen aus dem Zentrum  
des militärisch-elektronischen Komplexes. 
 
Ist da vielleicht ein arger Alb plötzlich Realität geworden, oder  
ist es doch bloß wieder die übliche Paranoia, die uns  
grundlos plagt? 
 
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relayed  by William Knowles <wk@c4i.org> via Declan  
McCullagh <declan@well.com> 
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January 31, 2001 By ROBERT TRIGAUX 
 
TAMPA -- Were you one of the 100,000 fans and workers to  
pass through the stadium turnstiles at Sunday's Super Bowl?  
Did you smile for the camera? 
 
Each and every face that entered Raymond James Stadium  
for the big game was captured by a video camera connected  
to a law enforcement control room inside the stadium. 
 
In milliseconds, each facial image was digitized and checked  
electronically against the computer files of known criminals,  
terrorists and con artists of the Tampa Police Department,  
the FBI and other state and local law enforcement agencies. 
 
Sunday's Super Bowl was the first major sporting event to  
adopt the face-matching surveillance system. But the  
designers of the system expect other security-sensitive  
sporting events, ranging from the upcoming 2002 Winter  
Olympics in Salt Lake City to the hooligan-plagued soccer  
leagues in parts of Europe, to express great interest. 
 
[...] 
 
*********** 
 
http://www.viisage.com/january_29_2001.htm
                   
 
Press Releases 
 
GRAPHCO TECHNOLOGIES, INC. Provides Surveillance for  
Raymond James Stadium to Identify Known Suspects, Deter  
Crime 
 
On January 28th, Criminals No Longer Another Face in the  
Tampa Stadium Crowd 
 
Tampa, Florida, January 29, 2001 -Graphco Technologies,  
Inc. (G-TEC), a leading developer of technology and solutions  
for biometric authentication, secure access, and expert  
information-sharing systems, announced today that they  
provided a surveillance and facial recognition system at both  
the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa and at Ybor City,  
Florida. The system was in place from January 21 - January  
28, 2001 to monitor potential criminal activities during the  
sporting events and related activities at the two locations. 
 
In cooperation with the Tampa Sports Authority, Graphco  
Technologies partnered with Raytheon Company's (NYSE:  
RTNA, RTNB) Linthicum, Maryland office, Viisage  
Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: VISG), and VelTek International,  
Inc., to provide its FaceTrac facial recognition system to the  
Tampa Police Department and other federal, state and local  
law enforcement agencies. 
 
"Not everyone comes to sporting events with good  
intentions," says David Watkins, G-TEC's Managing Director,  
"The multiple distractions at the nation's premier athletic  
events provide criminals with opportunities to engage in a  
variety of illegal activities. G-TEC's facial recognition system  
provided the Raymond James Stadium with a superior  
surveillance system that not only captures images of  
individuals but also compares their facial features against a  
database of known felons." 
 
The FaceTrac core facial recognition technology provides the  
ability to locate faces, to build 'face print' templates and to  
recognize matches to images stored in a database. When  
integrated with G-TEC's law enforcement database, FaceTrac  
allows rapid search, comparison and identification of suspect  
facial photos within the database. FaceTrac may be used for  
surveillance with multiple locations networked to a high  
capacity site, for analysis and system-search results. G-TEC  
installed FaceTrac at the Raymond James Stadium as a  
single site system, integrated with a custom designed  
database and search result notifications for tracking faces in  
a crowd and monitoring access to secure areas. 
 
Tom Colatosti, Viisage President and CEO said, "Places  
where large crowds are present, such as sporting events, are  
tempting targets for all types mischief, criminal behavior and  
larger threats. Using patented Viisage technology, G-TEC  
has introduced a new generation of tools for law enforcement  
officials to more effectively and non-intrusively provide for  
public safety. As an integral partner in the project, Viisage  
Technology provided G-TEC with the industry's leading and  
most robust face-recognition technology." 
 
Viisage Technology's FaceFINDER software drives the  
FaceTrac surveillance and identification process. Viisage's  
industry-leading face-recognition technology has the world's  
largest image database deployment in surveillance and  
investigative applications. Viisage also provided the project  
with image acquisition and integration technology and  
services. 
 
During the week of January 21st, G-TEC deployed the  
FaceTrac system throughout the Raymond James Stadium  
to detect and identify individuals who are wanted or suspect,  
and may present a danger to the public. Using standard  
cameras to recognize human faces during entry to the  
sporting event, FaceTrac continuously compared faces in the  
incoming crowd to an extensive, customized database of  
known felons, terrorists, and con artists provided by multiple  
local, state and federal agencies. A law enforcement task  
force of local, state and federal agency personnel monitored  
the system. Once individuals were matched with photo files  
in the database, officers of the joint task force, circulating  
throughout the complex, could be dispatched immediately to  
make possible arrests, quickly and discreetly. 
 
In addition to installing cameras supplied by VelTek  
International at the Raymond James Stadium, G-TEC  
adapted its FaceTrac capability to cameras in Ybor City,  
Florida to oversee the celebrations before and after the  
athletic events. Raytheon Company, a global developer and  
supplier of high-tech products and services, and a G-TEC  
partner, provided sophisticated cameras and expertise to  
provide police with exceptional night vision capabilities for  
poorly lit or darkened areas in Ybor City. 
 
G-TEC, headquartered in Newtown, PA, develops,  
manufactures, and markets secure database and secure  
communications systems worldwide. G-TEC combines  
information sharing, biometric authentication, secure access,  
and secure data facility technologies to provide technical  
infrastructure and applications in support of public and private  
law enforcement, corporate security, manufacturing, and  
secure web-enabled virtual communities. G-TEC's Intrapol  
Analysis Center offers secure-access data storage, sharing,  
and secure virtual community systems to corporate and law  
enforcement entities at the local, regional, state, national,  
and international levels. Graphco Technologies is located on  
the World Wide Web at www.graphcotech.com. 
 
Viisage Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: VISG), Littleton,  
Massachusetts, is a world leader in biometric face- 
recognition technology and in digital identification solutions.  
Viisage's face-recognition technology is widely recognized as  
the most convenient, non-intrusive and cost-effective  
biometric available. Viisage's patented face-recognition  
technology, originally developed at MIT, and its systems  
integration and software design capabilities, improve personal  
convenience, privacy and security while deterring identity  
theft and fraud. 
 
Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTNA, RTNB), based in  
Lexington, Mass., is a global technology leader that provides  
products and services in the areas of commercial and  
defense electronics, business and special mission aircraft.  
The company is now successfully expanding its defense  
technologies into non-defense sectors such as air traffic  
control, data, image and information management,  
transportation and communications. Raytheon's Linthicum,  
Maryland office has expertise in network security and large  
system development and deployment for both national  
intelligence and commercial customers, and is the primary  
Raytheon branch that supported G-TEC's surveillance efforts  
at the Raymond James Stadium. Additional information is  
available at www.raytheon.com 
 
Veltek International, Inc. is a leading manufacturer of Closed  
Circuit Television and security related equipment. Veltek  
currently offers over 250 different CCTV products through  
worldwide distribution including standard and specialty video  
cameras, housings, video signal, remote transmission, digital  
video streaming and digital storage equipment. 
 
Related Source 
http://www.sptimes.com/News/013101/TampaBay/Cameras_scanned_fans_.shtml
                   
 
 
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edited by Harkank 
published on: 2001-02-02 
comments to office@quintessenz.at
                   
                  
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