Surveillance On Steroids: The Future of Britain

Is the UK a surveillance state? The answer appears to be yes. In London, for example, there is now one CCTV camera for every ten people. Things are bad now. But if recent reports are to be believed, they are about to get many times worse. That's because Fusus, a US tech firm, "has been privately lobbying UK councils and police forces to scale up their surveillance using an AI-powered platform," according to a recent Open Democracy report.

As noted in the report, one London council is already using the company's software, which boldly claims to be "the most widely used and trusted real-time crime centre platform in US public safety." It's trusted. But it's not safe. Not for the average Brit, anyway.

Joseph Cox, an investigative journalist in the US recently reported that Fusus' all-seeing, all-knowing camera technology is very similar to the type of tech that has been used in South Africa, where a new apartheid, ominously referred to as an AI-apartheid, is currently taking place. Cox, who liaised with numerous security experts before writing the piece, warns that Fusus-like technology creates a "blanket of surveillance."

With headquarters in the red state of Georgia and another one in London, Fusus doesn't actually sell cameras. Instead, it sells various types of hardware and software that sync effortlessly with existing installations. According to Cox, the company's hardware and software latch onto the likes of "government-owned surveillance cameras as well as privately owned cameras at businesses and homes." Fusus delivers steroid-like technology that turns otherwise "dumb" cameras into incredibly smart ones. "In essence," as Cox writes, "the Fusus solution puts a brain into every camera connected with the system."

Big Brother is about to get considerably bigger — and smarter, it seems. Expansive and extremely efficient, Fusus' technology collects live feeds from all cameras, even siloed ones. Moreover, like something straight out of China, where Orwellian-type surveillance reigns supreme, its products (and it has many) possess the power to identify people wearing specific types of clothing and driving certain models of vehicles. Perhaps, most worryingly of all, Fusus — again, as Cox notes — aims to bring all footage together, from both public and private security cameras, and funnel it into one place. This includes recordings from doorbell cameras, drones, police body cameras, schools, and even cameras in churches. Is nothing sacred anymore?

It's safe to say that the UK has never seen surveillance systems quite like this. (Prior to publication, I reached out to Fusus for comments. None were offered.) Which brings us back to the company's entrance into the UK. According to the company's website, "Fusus keeps law enforcement officers, security personnel, and the communities they protect safer. We enable public safety personnel to function more efficiently and with improved operational intelligence by creating a common operating picture that emphasizes officer, citizen, and community safety."

This safety, however, comes at a cost.

Zac Larkham, author of the aforementioned Open Democracy piece, reported that shortly after opening its London office, situated in Canary Wharf in March, Fusus started hiring former officers from the Met. These former officers were tasked with approaching various councils and police forces throughout the already heavily surveilled city. Former officers have also approached Merseyside police forces to sell technology that latches onto existing CCTV and surveillance networks. "The firm's flagship product," noted Larkham, "is a surveillance hub known as a "real-time crime centre" (RTCC)." This particular product, first rolled out in the US after the 9/11 attacks, connects surveillance technologies throughout an area to a central feed. The footage is then analyzed by employees and AI-powered algorithms.

Currently, the monitoring of public CCTV feeds is carried out by council and police employees. But, according to Larkham, "the Fusus RTCC system helps automate surveillance: police and other authorities can incorporate sophisticated, automated analytical software to analyze multiple real-time sources of footage and use this data to run predictive policing software." Such a system could streamline activities that usually take officers days or weeks. Moreover, Fusus' technology also offers insiders the opportunity to view streams remotely, including on their mobile devices. Not surprisingly, as there appears to be an app for everything in 2023, Fusus has its own easy-to-use application ('FususOPS' app).

Some readers will argue that the technology is necessary, especially when the British government appears keen on decriminalising crime. However, it's important to remember that a service giving police officers easy access to privately owned security camera footage without the knowledge of camera owners is a recipe for absolute disaster. Emmanuelle Andrews, policy manager at human rights group Liberty, told Larkham that the expansion of mass surveillance could "change society as we know it."

One needn't be a card-carrying conspiracy theorist to share Andrews' sentiments. The UK has never seen technology like this before.