Guest Post by Martin Armstrong
One of the most revealing investigations this week did not come from Washington. It came from Forbes, which uncovered how an Israeli surveillance company is quietly marketing intelligence-grade technology directly to American police departments. The story is not about another patrol vehicle or upgraded communications equipment. It is about bringing tools originally developed for intelligence and national security operations onto the streets of the United States.
According to Forbes, Texas has purchased four specially equipped Chevrolet Tahoes from Israeli surveillance firm Cognyte in a deal worth roughly $4.5 million. Hidden inside these vehicles is a system known as FalcoNet that functions as a cellular interception platform. The technology imitates legitimate cellphone towers, causing nearby mobile phones to connect to the police vehicle instead of the carrier’s network. Once connected, investigators can identify devices, determine their locations, and gather other cellular information. Forbes also reports that the same technology can be carried in a backpack or mounted on helicopters, allowing surveillance to expand far beyond a single vehicle.
Cognyte is not an ordinary technology company. It was spun off from Verint Systems and built much of its reputation supplying intelligence, counterterrorism, and surveillance capabilities to governments around the world. The company has longstanding roots in Israel’s security sector, where these technologies were developed for national security and intelligence collection. Today those same capabilities are being marketed to sheriffs’ departments, state police agencies, and local law enforcement across America. That should concern anyone who still believes there is a meaningful distinction between intelligence agencies and neighborhood policing.
There was a time when police investigated crimes after they occurred. Increasingly, departments are investing in systems designed to gather enormous quantities of information before anyone has been accused of committing anything. Cellphone interception systems, automated license plate readers, facial recognition software, artificial intelligence, drones, predictive policing algorithms, and massive databases are steadily becoming standard equipment.
This transformation has accelerated with remarkable speed. Only a few years ago many Americans had never heard of license plate readers. Today millions of vehicles are photographed and cataloged every day. Artificial intelligence is reviewing surveillance footage. Local governments are installing AI-powered cameras to monitor neighborhoods and code violations. Police departments increasingly rely upon drones instead of patrol officers. Every advance is sold as a way to improve efficiency, yet every advance also expands the government’s ability to collect information on people who have never been charged with a crime.
Technology developed overseas for counterterrorism is now becoming part of routine domestic policing. Whether one supports or opposes these tools is almost beside the point. The public deserves to understand exactly what is being purchased, where the technology originated, how the information is stored, who ultimately has access to it, and what limits actually exist once these systems become permanent fixtures inside law enforcement.
Supporters argue that criminals have become more sophisticated and that police must modernize to keep pace. Nobody disputes that law enforcement should have effective tools to investigate violent crime, terrorism, or organized criminal networks. The concern begins when extraordinary capabilities quietly migrate into ordinary policing. Once agencies invest millions of dollars in surveillance technology, there is constant institutional pressure to justify those expenditures by using the equipment more frequently and in a wider range of investigations.
The United States has spent years watching the line between military equipment and civilian policing gradually disappear. Armored vehicles once reserved for combat zones now appear in small-town police departments. Tactical equipment designed for battlefields has become routine. Intelligence software originally built for national security is now being sold to local governments. Surveillance platforms once reserved for counterterrorism are increasingly marketed as everyday policing tools. None of these developments occurred overnight. They arrived one contract at a time.
Imagine if these police vehicles came from a nation aside from Israel? Both China and the US have prohibited smart vehicles from entering one another’s military bases. A foreign government will now have the ability to compile more information on American civilians. Let us not forget that the Pentagon came out earlier this summer and admitted that Israel has been spying on the US, as all governments tend to do.
The broader trend should not be ignored. Governments facing rising debt, political polarization, economic uncertainty, and declining public trust almost always seek greater visibility into society rather than less. Modern technology makes that objective easier than at any point in history. A surveillance camera never calls in sick. Artificial intelligence never sleeps. Cellphone tracking can monitor thousands of devices simultaneously. The temptation to expand these systems inevitably grows as their capabilities improve.
Welcome to the surveillance state where your every move is tracked, not just by your own government, but by whoever has access to the technology.
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[ H/T The Burning Platform ]
One of the most revealing investigations this week did not come from Washington. It came from Forbes, which uncovered how an Israeli surveillance company is quietly marketing intelligence-grade technology directly to American police departments. The story is not about another patrol vehicle or upgraded communications equipment. It is about bringing tools originally developed for intelligence and national security operations onto the streets of the United States.
According to Forbes, Texas has purchased four specially equipped Chevrolet Tahoes from Israeli surveillance firm Cognyte in a deal worth roughly $4.5 million. Hidden inside these vehicles is a system known as FalcoNet that functions as a cellular interception platform. The technology imitates legitimate cellphone towers, causing nearby mobile phones to connect to the police vehicle instead of the carrier’s network. Once connected, investigators can identify devices, determine their locations, and gather other cellular information. Forbes also reports that the same technology can be carried in a backpack or mounted on helicopters, allowing surveillance to expand far beyond a single vehicle.
Cognyte is not an ordinary technology company. It was spun off from Verint Systems and built much of its reputation supplying intelligence, counterterrorism, and surveillance capabilities to governments around the world. The company has longstanding roots in Israel’s security sector, where these technologies were developed for national security and intelligence collection. Today those same capabilities are being marketed to sheriffs’ departments, state police agencies, and local law enforcement across America. That should concern anyone who still believes there is a meaningful distinction between intelligence agencies and neighborhood policing.
There was a time when police investigated crimes after they occurred. Increasingly, departments are investing in systems designed to gather enormous quantities of information before anyone has been accused of committing anything. Cellphone interception systems, automated license plate readers, facial recognition software, artificial intelligence, drones, predictive policing algorithms, and massive databases are steadily becoming standard equipment.
This transformation has accelerated with remarkable speed. Only a few years ago many Americans had never heard of license plate readers. Today millions of vehicles are photographed and cataloged every day. Artificial intelligence is reviewing surveillance footage. Local governments are installing AI-powered cameras to monitor neighborhoods and code violations. Police departments increasingly rely upon drones instead of patrol officers. Every advance is sold as a way to improve efficiency, yet every advance also expands the government’s ability to collect information on people who have never been charged with a crime.
Technology developed overseas for counterterrorism is now becoming part of routine domestic policing. Whether one supports or opposes these tools is almost beside the point. The public deserves to understand exactly what is being purchased, where the technology originated, how the information is stored, who ultimately has access to it, and what limits actually exist once these systems become permanent fixtures inside law enforcement.
Supporters argue that criminals have become more sophisticated and that police must modernize to keep pace. Nobody disputes that law enforcement should have effective tools to investigate violent crime, terrorism, or organized criminal networks. The concern begins when extraordinary capabilities quietly migrate into ordinary policing. Once agencies invest millions of dollars in surveillance technology, there is constant institutional pressure to justify those expenditures by using the equipment more frequently and in a wider range of investigations.
The United States has spent years watching the line between military equipment and civilian policing gradually disappear. Armored vehicles once reserved for combat zones now appear in small-town police departments. Tactical equipment designed for battlefields has become routine. Intelligence software originally built for national security is now being sold to local governments. Surveillance platforms once reserved for counterterrorism are increasingly marketed as everyday policing tools. None of these developments occurred overnight. They arrived one contract at a time.
Imagine if these police vehicles came from a nation aside from Israel? Both China and the US have prohibited smart vehicles from entering one another’s military bases. A foreign government will now have the ability to compile more information on American civilians. Let us not forget that the Pentagon came out earlier this summer and admitted that Israel has been spying on the US, as all governments tend to do.
The broader trend should not be ignored. Governments facing rising debt, political polarization, economic uncertainty, and declining public trust almost always seek greater visibility into society rather than less. Modern technology makes that objective easier than at any point in history. A surveillance camera never calls in sick. Artificial intelligence never sleeps. Cellphone tracking can monitor thousands of devices simultaneously. The temptation to expand these systems inevitably grows as their capabilities improve.
Welcome to the surveillance state where your every move is tracked, not just by your own government, but by whoever has access to the technology.
Tweet
Continue reading...
[ H/T The Burning Platform ]
