Israel is deploying a massive facial recognition program in Gaza to spy on Palestinians without their knowledge or consent, according to a new report New York Times.
The facial recognition project is run by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)’s 8200 military unit, which is “collecting and cataloging Palestinian faces,” according to the publisher, who spoke to Israeli intelligence officials, military officials and soldiers. The program reportedly uses technology from Israeli facial recognition company Corsight, which, along with Google Photos, provides services to government agencies, law enforcement and businesses.
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this era It said that following the attack on October 7, Israel was conducting large-scale surveillance to identify Hamas members. The Israeli military has also set up checkpoints with facial recognition cameras on the roads for Palestinians fleeing the war. Soldiers have used security camera footage, videos uploaded by Hamas on social media and asked Palestinian prisoners to identify themselves with Hamas. People related to Sri Lanka.
Corsight’s technology, era While trying to leave Gaza during the war, he reportedly mistakenly identified several people, including Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha. The show reportedly flagged Abu Toha as a wanted fugitive, leading to him being stopped at a military checkpoint, after which Israeli soldiers held him in a detention center where he was beaten and interrogated for two days.Israeli intelligence officials told era Their guidelines for who should stop at these checkpoints are “intentionally broad.”
Google Photos was reportedly used in conjunction with Corsight’s technology, with intelligence officers uploading photos of “known persons” and using the platform’s search capabilities to identify people.an official told era This feature is effective at identifying someone even if a small part of their face is visible.
The official union of Google parent company Alphabet has condemned Google’s role in the surveillance of Palestinians. era” investigation. “Google Photos should not be used for this purpose. This is not what we built these tools for,” the union wrote in a post on X.
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Tel Aviv-based Corsight claims that in order to correctly identify an individual, less than 50% of a person’s face needs to be seen. In October, Forbes reported that hospitals in Israel were using Corsight to identify patients after attacks. The company offered its technology for free at the time. Corsight President and Chief Strategy Officer Robert Watts has posted on LinkedIn about the ongoing war, at one point writing, “I support Israel in eliminating the terrorist threat.”
Mashable has contacted Google and Corsight. Corsight declined to comment when contacted.
Israel has previously used facial recognition technology in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, with a May 2023 Amnesty International report outlining that the technology was used to “enforce existing discriminatory policing, apartheid and restrict freedom of movement” practices that violate the fundamental rights of Palestinians.”
Three people interviewed eraOne person who spoke on condition of anonymity said they did so because of concerns that the facial recognition project was a misuse of time and resources.
The ongoing war has brought an unprecedented humanitarian crisis to Gaza, with more than 32,000 Palestinians killed since Israel launched its military offensive. On March 26, the United Nations called for an immediate ceasefire in the region for the first time since the war began.