City Of Big Brotherly Love?

Chicago's Extensive Surveillance System Integrates Nonpolice Video, Raises Concerns About Possible Privacy Abuses

Wall Street Journal

A giant web of video-surveillance cameras has spread across Chicago, aiding police in the pursuit of criminals but raising fears that the City of Big Shoulders is becoming the City of Big Brother.

While many police forces are boosting video monitoring, video-surveillance experts believe Chicago has gone further than any other U.S. city in merging computer and video technology to police the streets. The networked system is also unusual because of its scope and the integration of nonpolice cameras.

The city links the 1,500 cameras that police have placed in trouble spots with thousands more—police won't say how many—that have been installed by other government agencies and the private sector in city buses, businesses, public schools, subway stations, housing projects and elsewhere. Even home owners can contribute camera feeds.

Rajiv Shah, an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago who has studied the issue, estimates that 15,000 cameras have been connected in what the city calls Operation Virtual Shield, its fiber-optic video-network loop.

The system is too vast for real-time monitoring by police staffers. But each time a citizen makes an emergency call, which happens about 15,000 times a day, the system identifies the caller's location and instantly puts a video feed from the nearest camera up on a screen to the left of the emergency operator's main terminal. The feeds, including ones that weren't viewed in real time, can be accessed for possible evidence in criminal cases.

A police spokesman said the system has "aided in thousands of arrests." Video cameras caught 16-year-old Michael Pace, an alleged Chicago gang member, opening fire with a 40-caliber handgun on a city bus in a 2007 incident that claimed the life of 16-year-old honor student Blair Holt and wounded four others. In July, Mr. Pace pleaded guilty to murder on the eve of his trial, and the video was released during a hearing where a judge sentenced him to 100 years in jail.

The city is "allowing first responders access to real-time visual data," said Ray Orozco, executive director of the city department responsible for the system. "Chicago understands the importance of networking instead of just hanging cameras," said Roger Rehayem of International Business Machines Corp., which designed the system. Former U.S. Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff has called Chicago's use of cameras "a model for the country."

That worries some Chicagoans. Charles Yohnka, director of communications and public policy for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, said, "With the unbelievably rapid expansion of these systems, we'd like to know when enough is enough."

The ACLU has been calling, so far without success, for the city to disclose how many cameras are in the system and what the capabilities of the system are, as well as who is allowed to look at the video feeds and under what circumstances.

Mr. Yohnka said that he isn't aware of any abuses in the use of the video but that "political surveillance" of opponents could be tempting for office holders. In other cities there have been reports of male police staffers ogling and tracking women for extensive periods though they aren't doing anything suspicious.

Mr. Orozco dismisses worries about privacy abuse. The department logs in all users and can monitor what they are doing, he said, assuring accountability. He also said access to the command center is tightly controlled. He declined to discuss specifics of who is allowed inside the center.

Chicago said that it only networks video cameras in public areas where people have an expectation they may be seen. None of the cameras record speech, because that would violate wire-tapping laws, although some can detect the sound of gunfire and breaking glass.

"People want these cameras in their neighborhoods," said Mayor Richard Daley in a prepared statement. "We can't afford to have a police officer on every corner, but cameras are the next best thing."

While video-surveillance cameras are ubiquitous in most of the developed world, they're primarily used to collect evidence that can be examined after a crime has been committed.

The Chicago system is also designed to deal with emergencies as they happen. Besides turning on when people call 911, some are set to sound alerts at command centers if people enter closed areas after hours, and some also issue spoken warnings at the site.

At the Navy Pier amusement area, cameras monitor an inlet that only official boats are allowed to enter. When the system detects recreational boats in the area, a warning to move away is issued over a loudspeaker.

It's difficult to tell how much Chicago's system cuts crime. The city's crime rates have declined steadily over the last 10 years, like those in many other cities.

Chicago police started installing highly visible cameras topped by flashing blue lights back in 2003. Many were placed at locations where residents had complained about drug-dealing, and the city later said that crime decreased up to 30% in areas with cameras. But some critics complained that the cameras just pushed drug dealers to nearby street corners.

Even if cameras don't prevent crimes, "prosecution is much quicker," said Fredrik Nilsson, general manager of Axis North America, a unit of a Swedish company that makes the digital cameras used in Chicago. "When people face recorded videos, they don't go through court trials."

The Phone Is Smart, But You Have To Be Smarter

Wall Street Journal

Would you want hackers to have all the information on your device? Here's how to protect yourself.

Given how much information can be found in people's smart phones—contact lists, emails littered with details about their personal lives and their work, company documents and data, personal financial information and passwords—it's startling how little most users feel the need to protect the devices.

"People have a false sense of security" about their phones, says Daniel Hoffman, chief technology officer of SMobile Systems Inc., a provider of security software for mobile devices.

Security experts have long warned of the vulnerability of smart phones to hackers. And in the past year the threat has been highlighted by an attack on the Symbian operating system, used mainly by Nokia Corp. phones, and a demonstration at a conference of a flaw that was found in the iPhone's security.

As the software for smart phones becomes more sophisticated and open, they become better breeding grounds for a new generation of spyware and viruses. Hackers can work their way into your phone through text messages, steal your information and use your contact list to find more victims. Scammers can now dupe you into revealing your Social Security number or credit-card account number on your phone, just like they've been doing for years on PCs.

There are low-tech ways to get into trouble, too. Theft or loss of your phone can be much more than an inconvenience if the person who ends up with it chooses to explore its contents. And you can even give away sensitive information by using your phone without regard to who might be watching or listening to you.

To some extent, you need to rely on your phone's maker to keep you safe. But there are several simple ways you can help protect yourself.

Here's a look at some of the dangers and how you can minimize them.

Message Minefields

Text messaging is a favorite service for many mobile-phone users. It's also becoming a favorite line of attack for scammers. For instance, text messages carrying insidious coding were the weapon in an attack late last year on phones using the Symbian operating system and were later identified as a threat to the iPhone.

For owners of the Symbian phones that were targeted, the attack was a major annoyance. Phones that received the malicious text messages shut down and lost their ability to receive any further text messages—damage that could only be repaired by sending them back to the factory. Then, in July, hackers at a conference on digital security demonstrated the ability to send text messages to iPhones that would allow the senders to gain access to data stored in the devices.

Apple Inc. and the Symbian Foundation patched up the holes in their security. For attacks like these, users have no defenses of their own—the messages do their damage without any action on the part of the user. But these incidents should alert smart-phone users to the vulnerability of their devices, and encourage them to guard against other kinds of attacks.

That includes phishing scams, which attempt to acquire personal data such as passwords or credit-card account information through fraudulent messages. These scams have spread from email to text messaging. Here the best protection should be familiar: Be skeptical of any messages that ask for passwords, account numbers or any other personal information. When in doubt, check directly with the company that claims to be asking for the information.

Multimedia messages—photo attachments sent like text messages—also pose a threat. A message could contain a virus that not only can tap into any information stored on your phone but also dig into your phone's address book to spread itself to all of your contacts. Other versions might spread by using the phone's Bluetooth connection to attack nearby devices. Attacks like these will drain your phone's battery and leave you with a large messaging bill, not to mention the embarrassment of contaminating the phones of your friends and colleagues, or even perfect strangers.

Again, caution is the best protection. If you don't know the origin of the message or don't recognize the number it's sent from, it's best to delete it before opening. Even if you do recognize the number, be wary of messages you weren't expecting, since viruses spread through contact lists look like they're coming from a trusted source.

Denying Applications

Applications could be another avenue for hackers, security experts warn, though it appears to be one that hasn't been explored yet to any great extent.

One way to head off potential problems is to limit the access applications have to your phone's functions. For example, some games require access to your Internet connection so that they can compare your scores to those of other players. But many applications don't need this capability, and if you find that one of those apps does have access to your connection, it could be a sign that something is amiss.

Smart phones running on the Android operating system or the BlackBerry system allow you to limit the amount of access an application has. You simply head to your Settings menu and choose Application. You can then look at each application to see which phone functions it has access to, and deny it access to any that don't seem necessary.

Losing It

One sure way to give strangers access to your phone is to lose it. And of course theft is another concern. If you have sensitive data on the device, make sure you have a way to remotely erase the contents—and that you know how to do it. Most corporate phones have the ability, as do iPhones, BlackBerrys and Windows Mobile phones.

If your phone doesn't have the capability, SMobile offers a program that allows you to remotely back up data and wipe the device clean. The company charges $20 a year for the software, which works with most smart phones.

A password is another simple measure that can go a long way toward deterring common thieves from gleaning anything from your phone. All smart phones have the ability to create a password built in. For BlackBerrys, simply go to the Security Options under Settings to turn on the password. Similarly, iPhones have the option in the Settings menu.

For extra security, you can set up additional passwords for other actions, such as accessing email or downloading a program. That can also be done in the Settings menu. BlackBerrys have the option to encrypt data on the media storage card so it can only be read on that phone. Simply go to the Media Card menu under Settings to activate the encryption.

Another easy way to lessen your vulnerability is to limit the amount of personal information on your phone. Don't list your home address, or the personal relationships with your contacts. Also, never place your credit-card or bank account numbers on your phone. There are programs designed to track down the 16-digit credit sequence in electronic devices.

If your phone is lost or stolen and you get it back, be wary of any new applications that have been loaded. If your cellphone is sluggish, take it to the carrier; it might be compromised.

Keep It Down

It's also important, and easy, to shield your phone from prying eyes and ears.

3M Co. makes a thin film called the Mobile Privacy Filter that goes over your screen, making it tough to see what's displayed unless you're directly in front of the phone. It can be found at any office-supply store or online for roughly $10.

Also, try not to discuss sensitive topics in public. It sounds obvious, but people sometimes appear oblivious to those around them as they discuss work or rattle off their name, Social Security number or credit-card account numbers while making purchases or taking care of personal business on the phone.