Going for a private walk, recognized and your headshot shared – thanks to a satellite

Satelite
Satelite
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Written by Linda Hohnholz

Walking on the street, minding your own business, your face recognized by a satellite and shared with authorities, friends and enemies, or on the Internet. Is this a scary scenario or a good move?

Walking on the street, minding your own business, your face recognized by a satellite and shared with authorities, friends and enemies, or on the Internet. Is this a scary scenario or a good move? According to Motherboard, North Americaโ€™s largest satellite company, DigitalGlobe, is currently lobbying the US government to relax federal regulations regarding whatโ€™s permissible to show in photographs taken from space, despite the fact that these rules were just loosened in June.

Satellites run by Google and other private companies may soon have the ability to capture images of a personโ€™s face and other sensitive information if federal restrictions continue to loosen from lobbying.

Two months ago, the US Commerce Department cleared the way for satellites to begin capturing images of objects larger than 25 centimeters. Previously, objects had to be bigger than 50 centimeters in order to be shown legally in photographs.

This week, DigitalGlobe is launching a new satellite, dubbed the โ€œWorldview-3,โ€ in order to take advantage of the new rules, but just as noteworthy is that the company is hoping the Commerce Department will lower the threshold once again, this time to 10 centimeters.

โ€œAt 25 centimeters,โ€ Motherboardโ€™s Elyse Wanshel writes, โ€œthe images will be detailed enough to classify the make of a car. If the restrictions relax further, the plate number or owner’s face could come into clear view.โ€

About half a year from now, companies like Google and Microsoft, as well as government departments like the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, will be able to start paying DigitalGlobe to incorporate the Worldview-3โ€™s detailed photos into their services. This is expected to significantly improve Google services like Maps, Street View, and Earth, but the idea that satellites may be able to capture sensitive information like license plates could raise the eyebrows of privacy advocates around the country.

After the regulations on satellite images were reduced in June, Google purchased the satellite company Skybox Imaging. As RT reported then, the company issued a statement saying the purchase would not just bolster Maps, but also improve internet speeds and aid in disaster relief efforts.

Motherboard reports that Google is probably not out to scan individual faces or track license plates, but rather itโ€™s likely going to use Skybox to establish a global cloud service. However, Wanshel noted the company may still find other ways to profit from being able to do so, and the intentions of other companies with access to the imagery โ€“ be it from Google or DigitalGlobe โ€“ may be tougher to decipher.

โ€œWhat kind of companies will utilize this โ€˜cloud for the Earth?โ€™โ€ she asked. โ€œWhat could they potentially create with this vast amount of knowledge that, until now, seemed only obtainable and appropriate for super powers or leather-clad spies in action movies? If Google can make out your face from space, will it? And how might it capitalize on that ability?โ€

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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