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ARGUS-IS, which is the successor to GORGON STARE, adds DVR capabilities. So your feed catches a VBIED detonation and analysts can zoom in and rewind the footage

ARGUS-IS, which is the successor to GORGON STARE, adds DVR capabilities. So your feed catches a VBIED detonation and analysts can zoom in and rewind the footage and find the safe house from which the VBIED departed. This can be done at effectively metropolitan scale. IIRC, both these systems are being tested domestically. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARGUS-IS https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARGUS-IS

godelski 7y ago
I remember a RadioLab episode[0] that talked about using small planes to do similar things. Planes that were flying at high up so you won't hear or really notice them. They go through how they solved a crime in Mexico by tracing where the crime happened and stepping pictures back to find where the shooter originated from. The CIA and FBI have been doing this for a long time too. Its use is just getting more wide spread. Then I want people to consider Planet [1](formally Planet Labs). Their goal is to get a picture of Earth every day. They currently have 14 satellites that get 0.72m resolution (sample)[2]. That's easily enough to see a car. The 3m[3] seems good enough to do what they describe in the RadioLab episode. Honestly it is only a matter of time before Planet or another company gets sub 100cm resolution AND has a constant view of the globe. While this product is transformative in many different ways and can do a lot of good for humanity (seriously, it can do a LOT of good) I have ZERO doubt that it will be used to track people. It really isn't a matter of inventing technology, it is a matter of how much to spend (inventing more will make it cheaper). So I think we should think very carefully about this technology. I'm extremely concerned with privacy but at the same time I do not think we should prevent the march of innovation (even if you really could). But we've seen how it has been used. We see how it IS being used. But I want people to also think how it WILL be used as technology gets better. This isn't a conversation for tomorrow. We do have to think about it now and decide how we want to handle these things. I'm not entirely sure how it should be handled. But the idea that the US, Russia, China, or even NK could have access to constant monitoring of the entire planet is a scary idea and well past Orwellian. I think we're far from a constant monitoring being feasible, but we're at least close enough where the idea is realistic (where it isn't sci-fi anymore). Side note: I wonder how much more difficult it would be to be a spy if this technology existed. [0] https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/wnycs-radiolab/e/eye-in-the-sky-39430699 https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/wnycs-radiolab/e/eye-in-the... [1] https://www.planet.com/products/planet-imagery/ https://www.planet.com/products/planet-imagery/ [2] https://www.planet.com/assets/images/products/imagery/skysat_rotterdam.jpg https://www.planet.com/assets/images/products/imagery/skysat... [3] https://www.planet.com/assets/images/products/imagery/planetscope_sanfrancisco.jpg https://www.planet.com/assets/images/products/imagery/planet...

godelski 7y ago

I remember a RadioLab episode[0] that talked about using small planes to do similar things. Planes that were flying at high up so you won't hear or really notice them. They go through how they solved a crime in Mexico by tracing where the crime happened and stepping pictures back to find where the shooter originated from. The CIA and FBI have been doing this for a long time too. Its use is just getting more wide spread. Then I want people to consider Planet [1](formally Planet Labs). Their goal is to get a picture of Earth every day. They currently have 14 satellites that get 0.72m resolution (sample)[2]. That's easily enough to see a car. The 3m[3] seems good enough to do what they describe in the RadioLab episode. Honestly it is only a matter of time before Planet or another company gets sub 100cm resolution AND has a constant view of the globe. While this product is transformative in many different ways and can do a lot of good for humanity (seriously, it can do a LOT of good) I have ZERO doubt that it will be used to track people. It really isn't a matter of inventing technology, it is a matter of how much to spend (inventing more will make it cheaper). So I think we should think very carefully about this technology. I'm extremely concerned with privacy but at the same time I do not think we should prevent the march of innovation (even if you really could). But we've seen how it has been used. We see how it IS being used. But I want people to also think how it WILL be used as technology gets better. This isn't a conversation for tomorrow. We do have to think about it now and decide how we want to handle these things. I'm not entirely sure how it should be handled. But the idea that the US, Russia, China, or even NK could have access to constant monitoring of the entire planet is a scary idea and well past Orwellian. I think we're far from a constant monitoring being feasible, but we're at least close enough where the idea is realistic (where it isn't sci-fi anymore). Side note: I wonder how much more difficult it would be to be a spy if this technology existed. [0] https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/wnycs-radiolab/e/eye-in-the-sky-39430699 https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/wnycs-radiolab/e/eye-in-the... [1] https://www.planet.com/products/planet-imagery/ https://www.planet.com/products/planet-imagery/ [2] https://www.planet.com/assets/images/products/imagery/skysat_rotterdam.jpg https://www.planet.com/assets/images/products/imagery/skysat... [3] https://www.planet.com/assets/images/products/imagery/planetscope_sanfrancisco.jpg https://www.planet.com/assets/images/products/imagery/planet...