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| Israel uses facial recognition technology to track Palestinians |
According to a new Washington Post report, the Israeli military has deployed a massive facial recognition program to track Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The former Israeli soldier told the newspaper that a smartphone technology called the "blue wolf" can take pictures of Palestinians and store them in a huge database.
After the photo is taken, Blue Wolf technology matches the photo with the people in its database. The soldier's cell phone will then flash yellow, red, or green to indicate if the person should be arrested, detained, or released.
The newspaper pointed out that the Israeli army filled the database with thousands of photos of Palestinians during the past two years.
He held a competition to reward soldiers who took pictures of people including children and adults, and each unit collected the largest number of pictures.
A former soldier told the newspaper that the database was primarily a Palestinian Facebook. This database is a shortened version of another large database called Wolf Pack.
The Wolves Collection contains the accounts of nearly all Palestinians in the West Bank. Including personal photos, family history, education, and individual security level.
The Israeli army has also installed cameras throughout the city of Hebron, allowing soldiers at checkpoints to identify Palestinians before showing their identities.
At the same time, a larger network of CCTV cameras called Hebron Smart City provides 24/7 real-time monitoring. Sometimes private homes can be seen.
According to the Washington Post, the military informed the former soldiers that the surveillance system was put in place to prevent terrorism. However, the Israeli system takes facial recognition to the extreme.
Israel intensifies its surveillance of the Palestinians
Hebron, the largest city in the West Bank, has witnessed a long-running intense conflict between the Israeli and Palestinian residents. Most of the city's neighborhoods are under the direct administration of the Israeli military, with curfews and other restrictions on the freedom of movement of local residents.
But even with tighter security, former soldiers who spoke to the newspaper found the facial recognition system a concern.
One veteran told this newspaper, "If I used it in the mall in my hometown, I would feel uncomfortable. People are worried about fingerprint recognition. But this system is much more dangerous. The surveillance system in Hebron violated the privacy of the entire nation."
Law enforcement officials have offered to install facial recognition cameras in public places in Israel, but have faced strong opposition. The government data protection authority rejected the proposal. But Israel uses different standards in the occupied territories.
Development of a standalone smartphone app called White Wolf for Jewish settlers in the West Bank.
Although settlers are not allowed to arrest people. But security volunteers can use the White Wolf to scan Palestinian ID cards before that person enters the settlement.
In contrast to border controls, control operations were carried out in Hebron in Palestinian cities without notifying the local population.
Checkpoint cameras can identify vehicles without registered license plates and compare them to vehicle owners.
There are many similar regulations in place in other countries, but all of them are controversial. China has developed a similar facial recognition system to monitor ethnic minorities of Uyghurs, although it is not known how widespread this system is.
Moscow recently added a face-recognition-based payment system to hundreds of metro stations. The United Kingdom has introduced a lunchtime payment system similar to that used by face scanners for schoolchildren.