it was once a technology only so i find movies were able to dream up software capable of tracking your every move by spotting your face in the ground and storing that information on a vast government database but that fantasy is now a scientific reality i'll tell you where and how. it was it's a small world after all and it's about to get a whole lot smaller in the near future from the u.s. to the u.k. canada to australia lawmakers around the world are proposing similar cyber legislation is it just a coincidence or a full scale assault on internet freedom question more. than a federal judge in california has thrown out a lawsuit filed against the f.b.i.

for spying on the muslim community meanwhile violence against muslims is spreading with nearly a dozen cases of harassment and attacks in the past two weeks alone r.t. wants to know what it's like to be a muslim in america. good evening it's wednesday august fifteenth eight pm in washington d.c. i'm christine and you're watching our t.v. . we begin tonight with a look into surveillance and how it affects our daily lives and most of us have already heard about domestic drones and of course we've heard of wiretaps but there's something else on the horizon when it comes to the ever expanding surveillance state facial recognition it's hardly a novel concept but it is one that's gaining steam it's already being implemented in washington d.c. at los angeles las vegas new york and texas and possibly even michigan hawaii and

maryland r.c. producer adriano said oh explains how the software works and how you are actually helping to build up the database every minute of every day whether you're out on the street working in the office or sneaking into the kitchen chances are someone's watching facial recognition technology was once something only side five flicks could dream up but now it's beginning to look a lot stranger than fiction the f.b.i. is planning on having a collection of over twelve million searchable frontal photos so here's how the process works you take a camera like this one then you take a picture like this. and then it's uploaded onto a database here's where the magic happens the picture is then cross reference with other pictures in the already existing database pairing up you know your features like cheeks eyes what have you every facial recognition software has different

methods algorithms if you will but you get the point facebook for instance is already employing similar technology and getting a lot of flak for it if you have a facebook account chances are you've already used it without even knowing about it when you upload pictures facebook on a matic lee picks out similar looking people and cross references the pictures with others that have been uploaded to the site it's not completely accurate but arguably getting there and it's not just social media companies either the government is getting into the mix as well paying private companies to follow you around you may have heard a lot about a certain company as of late called trap wire though not much has been confirmed about the program we do know this that the quote sophisticated predictive software used to predict terrorist attacks is already in place in cities such as los angeles new york los vegas and d.c.

with a limitless data bank with who knows what or who well there you have it it seems the days of anonymity are long gone and it's not just the camera but the databank you should also be afraid of so is a picture really worth a thousand words well as we found out today it might be worth much much more point from washington i'm a genocidal artsy. and while we're on the subject of surveillance and technology let's talk now about plans for controversial new laws regarding increased internet surveillance and this is not just happening here in the u.s. it's also been proposed by canada australia the united kingdom and raised. months the governments of these countries have made independent efforts in regards to the monitoring of internet communications some examples of what's being proposed include mandating that social networking sites and online chat providers build so-called back doors for law enforcement instituting

a program known as deep packet inspection technology that would allow the monitoring of that data there have been a lot of negative responses though from online privacy hawks regarding the potentially damaging implications of such law what's more is that telecommunications companies many which you've already heard of including microsoft a t. and t. sprint time warner cable of arisan they've already met with government representatives to discuss how to integrate surveillance into already existing and always ever involving evolving technologies earlier i spoke with rebecca bow international privacy coordinator for the electronic frontier foundation about all this and we first spoke about the standardization concerning surveillance laws i asked her why it seems that other countries as well seem to have a keen interest in these laws here's her take. and the i don't really sure as much as you know we're not yet really looked into so much that sort of collaboration between countries but i do know that we've heard governments saying that you know

they want to be able to capture sort of all of the different only communications that are out there and that there is so much happening there on the evil trash or you know our answer to that is that a radical extension of police surveillance however is really isn't the answer and privacy has to be protected and civil liberties have to be upheld oh we just lost face there for a second rebecca. but it is really interesting and we can call it a so-called coincidence just that a lot of these can these countries are working got you back now i want to ask you about a proposed surveillance bill in canada this is called the c thirty just talk a little bit about what this bill entailed and what the public reaction in canada was like yeah you know and this is a really unpopular who's only in canada you know the sickly bill c. thirty that required brought in on line surveillance powers for internet service

providers actually who act in store information without individuals you know communications records online and allow. the canadian authorities easy access to the you know people's land activities and even force internet service providers he handed over and he did it out or it people in canada were really unhappy with this proposal and they actually reached that and that those are has been placed on temporarily but those they are still concerned that it could be servicing and that very interesting and of course in the u.k. as well there's been a push to require internet service providers to keep records of the records of internet data from a wide range of internet individuals yeah i guess we're back i mean who looks at. this information and what do they use it for yeah so really what we're seeing sort of happen around the world you know in the u.k.

in canada you know australia is a proposal for what we call mandatory direct attention and you can use requiring internet service providers to actually meet records of people on my next to the just their use of social networking site i email voice call the internet this kind of thing and in some cases they would be required to hold onto that information for years. and you just saw in australia is two year in it or a gathering attention so this means that it's these three going to see if there is that if the government feels like they want to go hand in and have a look at what you've been up to then it will be there for them to access and i want to go back to a term that we sort of introduced in the introduction to the segment and the term is deep packet inspection. tells a little bit about what this means and you know why people who are against these proposed surveillance laws are concerned about this you know i mean and that essentially means that you know it's the ability for. governments to sort of look

within the content of media haitians and not just sort of you know. scenes that by it's going to actually dealing with the content of. so we talked about canada and we've talked about some of the laws in the u.k. let's talk now about what's going on here in the u.s. in terms of surveillance laws how do the laws here both that have been passed on that have been proposed stack up against kind of what we're seeing in these other countries. yeah you know we've we actually had three ends and they ended for eight hour and she still hearing us that of course you know you might try to break your can is being used for our case against the national security agency and eighteen teeth for the warrantless wiretapping we just seem kind of you know sort of dragnet targeted nasser's you know that we're seeing sort of posting these other countries u.k. . what do you think people should be concerned about and i know the f.b.i.

has not focused so much on the role of some of these companies that we mentioned some of these large corporations but what do you think are some of the major concerns when you have you know the rising on the comcast in the sprints you know basically that the major providers of both cell phone and cable when you have them kind of collaborating with governments what should we be wary of any you know i think this is the thing we really need. is a shift sort of the you know the system where governments will listen you know people sneaky chance because they have probable cause and because they've actually seen of wrongdoing and moving to a world in which they're listening you know what's the patients just ordinary people regardless of whether they are suspicious or not. you know you know mass and i'm targeted surveillance that we really need to worry about. certainly

a lot here to talk about and you know we also hear from from some of the top officials in this country and other countries the need for this as well so certainly some mixed messages coming appreciate having you on the show or back about international privacy corner for the electronic frontier foundation in san francisco. well it's been a week and a half since the violence shooting at that sikh temple in oak creek wisconsin and which six people were killed and several others injured and since that time there have been some shows of support for the muslim community there but there is also been a dramatic surge of violent activity and harassment directed at places of worship since that time the american arab anti-discrimination committee is reporting that in total there have been nearly a dozen cases of attacks just in the last couple of weeks now this includes a mosque in joplin missouri burned to the ground an air rifle fired at the muslim education center in illinois where five hundred people were inside

a homemade bomb launched at a private islamic school and vandalism at various mosque around the country i talked more about the implications of this with ah but are you the legal director for the american arab anti-discrimination committee he first told us about some of the and since taking place in dearborn michigan well actually the reason that there were before there was an incident at the mouth of the islamic center. in those incidents involved some harassment something that got more troubling there was also an incident here in your warm at a local church which is the predominantly arab american middle eastern congregation they did receive. some threats and there was something with them done to the building as well but we're starting to see the rights come to you know out of the worship that were every american family in it's very troubling very alarming and they're releasing the good news that we have been dating. these incidents are to be taken seriously and there is no such thing as the layer reisman or something that

should not be taken seriously so there definitely troubling there is definitely something very alarming or better why do you feel that this has been the case just this recent surge in violent activity against muslim muslim worship sites especially considering what happened. well i think the case could be made that these attacks have occurred in the service continued to occur because of the pedal political rhetoric and the culture of violence and he had been exhibited by certain politicians in this being exhibited by those seeking political gain and that is the most troubling part we have individuals such as congresswoman bachmann congressman joe walsh from illinois who are really the even i mean the community who are really perpetrating out there that you know muslim americans and to be trusted muslims or not to be part of this very group in their constituents they're listening when their followers are listening we're starting to see

a direct impact in the other the incidences in the crimes that we have been exhibited again over the past few weeks it's no coincidence that you know representative joe walsh made some of the week that muslims want to kill americans or try to kill americans every week and he has two incidents one near the district of it and one of the in a district of a bomb thrown at a muslim school so that's right and really quickly for our viewers who don't know we did we mention this said this incident this homemade bomb launched at a private islamic school it happened in the eighth congressional district in illinois again the same district where congressman it joe walsh is running for reelection and while seems to be not only not concerned with the violence he's more concerned about what he calls is you know a different kind of dangerous threat and really quick i that i want to play a little bit about what he said there are radical islamists right here in the united states trying to kill americans and destroy this country so talk about

statements like this. i mean those are. the good looks to me because they are those do and should not be made politicians most of the first elected politicians those that are currently serving in congress need to have much more respect for the position they will need to understand the are representing this country the are elected by the situation they are elected by the community and they need to hold this office to the highest respect so when they are speaking in the tone when they are speaking this dialogue in doing their best to promote any informal violence in this country is not that was best for america no it was best for america so this type of this type of rhetoric is not place internationalists or has no place in politics in the in should be completely condemned by a politician alike and by the community and society alike and i promise there are going to be more attacks there's going to be more incidences throughout the next few months as long as this rhetoric continues but again there's no place for this international discourse and there should not be coming from a politician but i should point out that you know

a pattern that i've seen and you mentioned congresswoman bachmann has a she has done this congressman walsh homeland security committee that committees you know in congress here in washington dealing with the safety and security of the united states people on this community that the lawmakers on this computer committee are privy to information that the general public is not and it's something that people like to throw out that well we have information that the american people you know we can't tell you the details but we have information that says that there is you know a dangerous muslim community here congo a little bit about why you see this as a pattern. is it certainly a pattern for the simple fact that they are gaining political advantage in a political gain from this that when you look at individual searches bachmann was from florida representative joe walsh there live in it's run about the county and they're going to rival the politics of fear in a and they always need

a bad guy deal with the. the other is politics of fear in this culture of violence in haiti which is. helping them. move forward with their political careers and it's very unfortunate in the media it's interesting to even hear anyone talking about the need to crack down on white supremacists even though that was what was found that was who was found to be behind the shooting in the sikh temple the real quick i have you want to switch gears yesterday a federal judge threw out a lawsuit against the f.b.i. over the spying on muslims while attending prayer in orange county california the judge said allowing the suit to go forward would risk divulging sensitive state secrets and many of the people we've spoken to in orange county say they almost feel betrayed by their own government as a result what do you think is going on here. i think many of those families of those individuals of feelings of betrayal are absolutely accurate there are many of

the to community that do feel betrayed in the government this is news and law enforcement agencies are there to protect us in time after time over the past few years we've seen many examples where the contrary has happened we've seen many examples unheard of many examples of illegal surveillance we've heard of infiltration of the mouse and the use of age it provides a source so we need the facts we need the details we need to know what's going on and we have faith in the court system that these details in the sec could be provided in still going on with national security so using the excuse of national security business the fight there are ways around a security measures and there are ways to ensure that the nation is protected without losing our civil rights and losing our protection and we would have all that the or would it take in order to effect we just look forward to how those proceeds and whether or not there's an appeal ah that you have said you fear there will be more attacks as you mentioned there are already a dozen you fear there will be more. what what do you do what does your

organization do and regular people do moving forward. and terms of being cautious in terms of trying to deal with this and prevent it. well i think the first thing is that it's very important it is to stay fashion to be aware of your surroundings make sure that the model of the place of worship does their production reach out to local law enforcement where there's a little share of the pharmacological least apartment to a productive conversation particular on a friday prayer critically or on a date where large volumes and large are expected as far from our energy scene we offer a number of services we were going to do and provide mass with steps a day to ensure the risk reduction we can also provide contacts with the law enforcement to make sure their protection is employees in general advice where they're offered general vibe in general the number of resources for the community and in the incident something does happen or something does occur we are also there

help move forward and write the final situation and ensuring that all of that the community a crime or are ever handed and be prosecuted so that literal isn't when we will we don't have to exercise our practice but you know right now the way things are looking we do fear that there will be more attacks so right on that i a little director for the american arab anti-discrimination committee joining us from dearborn michigan thanks so much and you. as i guess our break but coming up one man's sidewalk art is another's activist expression and people are actually being arrested and fined for some of the things they drop they will sketch out the details straight ahead. what drives the world the fear mongering used by politicians who makes decisions to break through it's already been made who can you trust no one will is your view there with the global machinery see where we had a state controlled capitalism is called sasha's when nobody dares to ask

we do our tea question more. at first that just burns your eyes right right i mean it's like a derivative of actual pepper it's a food product essentially. this is much stronger than anything it's the biopsy loses thousands of times i'm stronger than any one of the ever put you know so.

well police in cities throughout the u.s. are cracking down on of all things chalk art work in july the los angeles police department of violently retaliated against the occupy movement in the city when it handed out chalk during an art walk a vent the reasoning behind the chalk was previous arrest for chalking public space however not all uses of chalk will catch the police as i occupy l.a. sent out a press release recently that states the l.a.p.d. has quote failed to make chalking arrests that non occupy events including an event the mayor handed out boxes of yellow chalk to be used on the sidewalks driveways and any blank canvases including the streets of sunset boulevard and traffic at night for a fund raiser that fundraiser for lance armstrong's our campaign called hope rides

again sponsored by nike now despite dozens of arrests at these occupy events there has yet to be a charge why well because talking is not illegal the ninth circuit court of appeals wrote that quote no reasonable person could think that writing with chalk could damage a sidewalk that was written back in one thousand nine hundred five as blogger firedoglake pointed out still last month in los angeles seventeen people were arrested and it caused almost a mini riot last thursday occupiers across the country pushed back when occupy l.a. declared aug ninth the quote chalky pie the world day police got the memo though and responded with arrest in cities like austin texas to speak more about all of these events and their purpose essential is space chunky by artist alex shaffer joined us earlier. well the you know i really didn't witness what went on the show our walk things were really kind of turned into a. a little mini trial scene and i know people that were there that saw it it was

it's a weird situation you know branding everybody there to be occupy i think it's a little little misleading people that i trust to know that we're there. can convince me that the people that threw the bottle at the cops that really got everything. crazy was someone from a bar so it's kind of a branding problem that octopi i think is is in some respects facing you know you can just have any. scream occupying through a bottle and. so they lose the message suddenly it just turns into a crowd control situation well what are you hearing in terms of. the police are giving for arresting people who are talking ok well like for instance my situation. and i was moved and motivated to do what i did after what i saw happen

at our walk. and i i went in front of the chase bank on monday at lunch and we're showing your video right now of you right outside of. yes and so i had shock and i brought a camera crew a couple guys out and a mike on the outside we were being very forward from word about it and on the public sidewalk i wrote in shock. croaks cry and chaos the chase bank logo and i just persevered till the police came they were kind of went through the chain of command first it was the building security and i said no and then it was the assistant bank manager and i said. then they called the private security purple shirts and i said or they will they did you can speak with me. in fact i tried to engage them in a conversation at one point and they you know they have the mirrored sunglasses and no words and then finally the police came and i was calmly arrested and that was

the point you know it was like a little surgical strike of protest and it was done right in front of the place that everybody should be protest so what were you charged with. vandalism that was the arrestable offense now were you using a spray spray paint i was using sidewalk chalk like you can see right here in the background and right here so alex if you were a child drawing hopscotch on the street would you have also been arrested i severely doubt it i mean granted probably not going to be a mom who's going to let their kids draw. a hopscotch game on the corner a six figure they're probably going to be doing it in pershing square or something like that. but it is selective i mean it's you know i got a quote on my blog right now. it's from bullard's attributable terror and it says if you want to know who controls you figure out who you can criticize in

a sense and so i think the closer that americans get to the truth and to the root of our problems the more sketched out people get well are you suggesting there is a direct connection between you know the los angeles police department and big banks like chase. well i think you know it's big banks like chase that are hiring this. off. they're not armed but they are a private security force they drive around and segues and they have. and. they are paid for by the law of the businesses there. and sort of a strange situation i mean i think that when the purple shirts call the cops then the cops feel like they have to respond how do you how do you respond to people alex who ask you you know why why do you talk on the sidewalk why not you know use

it on paper in your own home what do you what do you say to people well because it's a protest the thing about protest is you want people to know what you're thinking. and the thing about truck to being that i find so ideal is that it can happen continuously all the time i mean anybody walking from work to subway for lunch could could just be passing of wells fargo and go oh you know it's screw these guys and just it could be spontaneous continuance it's not like it's a big. doodoo up to a certain. day or something and then everyone has a big thing i want to see it happening everywhere. and that was the artist alex shaffer in los angeles and that's going to do it for now but for more on the stories we covered go to youtube dot com slash r t america you can also check out our web site r t dot com slash usa and of course you can always follow me on

twitter at christine. a lot of american power continue. going on our show. might actually be time revolution. and it turns out that a killer drink it all abroad for the surprising ingredient.