The Homeland safety measure office is examining technology that would allow its agents to use cell phones or e-mail devices to covertly share live video of possible terrorists by a law enforcement network. The concept is prompting concern from privacy advocates.

area officials signal the safety measure surveillance system RealEyes considering it instantly broadcasts images to anyone connected to the system. It can stream the video across the country to computers and give the law enforcement agencies a front-row view of what’s going on in real instance.

whether it passes a privacy analysis, the technology could allow air marshals, border officers or Secret Service agents to videotape surreptitiously in airports, at border crossings and anywhere else where there’s a possible threat.

A live video feed could be shared with “dozens or hundreds of authorized users,” Homeland protection spokeswoman Amy Kudwa says.

It could help agents identify and track down a suspect, help police find a lost child or

guide firefighters to catastrophe victims, Kudwa says. It could be a “very valuable” tool in the government’s defense and emergency-response efforts, she says.

The technology is raising privacy worries. Melissa Ngo of the Electronic Privacy data Center, an electronic-privacy watchdog, says the station should proceed cautiously considering the government has a post-9/11 record of “expansions into surveillance when there’s no credible threat.”

The Homeland shield office, after spending $168,000 on field tests late last year, is conducting a privacy impact assessment, Kudwa says. She doesn’t know when it will be finished, but the station has already budgeted another $532,000 for tests.

Brian Geoghegan of Reality Mobile, which is developing the technology, says FBI agents tested the system at the Super Bowl in Detroit in 2006. Concerned that protesters might try to disrupt the event, agents filmed folks in the lobby of a hotel where some of the football players were staying.

Orginal post by Top Tech News