Anonymous's new target – the INDECT crime surveillance project

Under the slogan, “Big Brother is watching,” Anonymous are calling on Facebok and Twitter for protests this Friday against what critics fear is a potential abuse of privacy and the collection of personal data.

“This Friday, we wake up,” a post on Anonymous's Facebook page announced, Tuesday.

Hackers also threaten to attack web sites associated with the project, as they did in protest against Poland signing the ACTA anti-piracy agreement.

The official INDECT web site says the project has been “initiated by the Polish Platform for Homeland Security” and involves an “international, pan-European consortium of 17 partners, led by the AGH University of Science and Technology (Krakow, Poland), under the supervision of Professor Andrzej Dziech, the INDECT Project Coordinator.”

The Police Service of Northern Ireland and Polish General Headquarters of Police are also involved in the project, which aims to “develop new, advanced and innovative algorithms and methods aiming at combating terrorism and other criminal activities, such as human trafficking and organised crime which are affecting citizens’ safety.”

Anonymous claims however that INDECT technology, allied to CCTV surveillance, could be used for the surveillance of citizens and interfere with privacy.

Małgorzata Szumańska from the civil rights Panoptykon Foundation says that it is too early to know exactly what the new technology could be used for.

“So far we do not know how the tools associated with INDECT will be implemented in practice,” Szumańska told the Rzeczpospolita daily, “but they could have an impact on our rights and freedoms. It is also difficult to answer the question as to whether Polish law will allow their use.”

The research project, which began in 2009, will conclude by the end of this year. (pg)