The next time you're going to a big festival to see a line up of your favorite artists, keep in mind that Uncle Sam has his eye on you.
Dig Boston and Noisey report that authorities used almost a dozen active security cameras and IBM software, created to recognize concert-goers and passersby based on identifying factors such as skin color, clothing, and facial features at last year's Boston Callings Music Festival.
The data collected was sent to a command center where members of the city government and the Boston Police used it to keep record of the crowd's actions, identify "suspicious objects," keep an eye out for attendees up to no good, and measure logistics.
An IBM memo discovered by Dig Boston outlined plans to use that face capturing tech on each person that attended the show. Even a year after the monitoring ended, reporter Kenneth Lipp told Noisey he was able to recover a full 70 hours of recorded footage from the concerts.
Given the Boston Marathon bombing, was this the proper move or is an invasion of privacy unacceptable at all times? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: Engadget
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