The introduction of biometric surveillance from birth in Russia

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

The government is introducing state biometric identification of citizens in educational, medical, municipal and private "services".

The performers of the "electronic biometric concentration camp" project, supervised from outside Russia, continue to develop the offensive with the full assistance of all branches of government. Last fall, the media cited analysts from the Central Bank, according to which our people are very reluctant to walk into the biometric stall. Citizens are aware of the enormous risks of transferring their irreplaceable (as opposed to passwords, mail addresses, phone numbers, etc.) persons, voices, fingerprints to “third parties”, they don’t buy from the cyber lobbyists' fables about “comfort and safety”. And so that the digitization of individuals, which is actually needed exclusively for total accounting, control and management of the population from a single global center, does not stall, “our” regulator and “our” Government decided to extend biometric identification to all (!) Spheres of public life, to make this system is state and in every possible way to push for registration in it, providing state services only after passing biometrics. Actually, our material is about how the size of the digital concentration camp is gradually being reduced for the people.

By the end of last year, the Unified Biometric System, which is supposedly operated by the state-owned PJSC Rostelecom, had only about 30 thousand samples of images of faces and voices of Russian citizens, of which only one and a half thousand applied for remote services. Well, what can you do - our "non-progressive" citizens are in no hurry to give their lives to the control of an indistinct "artificial intelligence", for "learning" which it is necessary to establish surveillance for everyone and constantly feed the AI to our "digital footprint". Well, we just do not have enough conscientiousness to constantly be monitored and inform the authorities, usurers, operators and God knows to whom about all our movements, purchases, interests and priorities. And in response, the "caring" Government decided … to endow the Unified Biometric System (UBS) with the status of the state!

Last week, Izvestia reported this with reference to the Ministry of Finance and Rostelecom. The scope of biometrics will be expanded to include educational, medical and municipal services. An extremely interesting explanation is given for this, well, quite frank - in this way the authorities hope to speed up the filling of the biometric database of the population (!), As well as more active use of biometrics "services" (!). That is, the EBS is gradually simply made voluntary-compulsory, like the ESIA, and the portal of public services, which are turned into the main ways of communication between citizens and the state. It is also reported that the option of a public-private partnership is currently being discussed, in which all rights to the EBS are transferred to the state, and the operator remains the same Rostelecom.

“On the basis of a unified biometric system, state, municipal and commercial high-risk services will be provided, access to personal data and legally significant actions will be performed. A unified biometric system can also become trusted for obtaining a cloud-based qualified electronic signature, remote legal proceedings, distance education, communication services, notary, financial and many other services, "Rostelecom said on this occasion, adding that" now they are focused on using existing biometric modalities: faces and voices, since data registration is already built here, and the application does not require any special equipment ",but at the same time, "the possibility of applying new modalities for certain scenarios is also being considered, for example, recognition by the pattern of veins in the palm." …

Remote courts, distance learning, any legally significant actions and, most importantly, high-risk commercial services … Pay attention to how high digital systems in power raise the status of biometric identification of a person, completely disregarding the fact that a face / voice cast can be easily stolen. They clearly want to make access to all major government and commercial operations in society biometric (!). And the saddest thing is that they have all the necessary bookmarks for this in the legislation.

Here is just one of many recent examples of biometric lobbyist activity: On July 21, the BBC's Russian service, citing documents from a July 9 tender, announced that a quarter of Moscow metro cars would have face-recognition cameras. Since the current operating fleet of the metro numbers about 6,000 cars, by the end of the year the cameras will be installed in about 1,500 cars (each carriage will have eight cameras that are capable of recognizing and sorting passengers' faces). And the saddest thing is that 152-FZ "On Personal Data" in Part 2 of Art. 11 contains a huge number of exceptions in which the consent of a citizen to the processing of his biometrics is not required: here is the legislation on defense, security, countering terrorism, transport security, anti-corruption, etc. All this seemed to have been specially written not in order to protect our constitutionally guaranteed personal and family secrets and the protection of personal data, but on the contrary - to legitimize its destruction.

If we continue the conversation about Moscow, then the full-scale functioning of the face recognition system in the streets and courtyards has been launched in the capital since January 2020. Around the same time, the mayor of the capital, Sobyanin S. S. announced that the facial recognition system will reach the metro by the end of the year. Currently, the Moscow mayor's office uses 170 different information systems, which together implement the “Smart City” concept. Every day, the street face recognition system processes tens of millions of images. She works closely with the bases of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate and is able to identify a person based on a sample photo, for example, from a passport.

Despite statements by the Moscow government that the face recognition system processes data in anonymized form, the coronavirus concentration camp regime in recent months has perfectly shown that, if necessary, it can be easily used for personal surveillance. During the pseudo-quarantine ("high alert" regime) in the metropolitan region, the cameras were successfully used to identify violators of the self-isolation regime and passengers on flights who came into contact with citizens infected with coronavirus. Moreover, even before the coronavirus, civil activists were losing lawsuits in the courts on the illegality of biometric surveillance - the judges gave an extremely interesting wording: it turns out that this system is "legal because it is not prohibited and is aimed at implementing public state tasks."

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Let's move on to the key biometric sub-topic that is of particular concern to parents throughout Russia. June 15 this year the Vedomosti edition detonated a real information bomb, announcing that cameras with face recognition of the Orwell 2k system (subsidiaries of Chubais's Rusnano and Chemezov's Rostec) will appear in all Russian schools. We analyzed this information in detail, including the legality of such surveillance of children, school employees and parents, but here is a screen from the Vedomosti message, according to which the regional education departments confirmed the information contained on the public procurement website - the amount of contracts for the National Informatization Center (“subsidiaries "Rostec") amounted to more than 2 billion rubles.

And then very interesting denials began: the contractor for the state procurement of the NCI said on June 16 that the installation of biometric cameras in all schools of the country is not planned - they say, 1, 6 thousand schools in 12 regions were equipped with biometric cameras in 2019, and that's all for now. In other messages, on behalf of the NCI, it is stated that the supply of cameras will still be to all schools in the country, but the documentation of the auctions in which the organization works does not imply the use of face recognition technology - that is, they will supposedly be ordinary surveillance cameras.

Sounds convincing? No, not really. To understand the craftiness of such "denials", let's give the floor to Evgeny Lapshov, a representative of the software developer for school surveillance cameras "Elvis-Neotech" (Rusnano portfolio company):

This information is provided by "Komsomolskaya Pravda" dated June 16 this year. - they say, in 1600 schools this system has already been installed, and in the future biometric cameras will appear in all schools in Russia - and the NCI allegedly declares the same.

And here is information from the official press release "Elvis-Neotech", posted on June 16 on the website of the official "Rossiyskaya Gazeta":

“Until 2024, the Ministry of Education plans to equip more than 43 thousand cameras of educational institutions with security systems within the framework of the federal project“Digital Educational Environment”, which is part of the national project“Education”. A system for video surveillance and assistance in distance learning in classrooms will also be installed. The main goal is to ensure the safety of students, as well as to create a technological basis for distance learning."

This is where everything becomes much more clear. The installation of high-resolution biometric cameras with a "smart surveillance" system, it turns out, is due to the federal DSP project and is financed from the federal budget within the funds for the national project "Education". DSP, as Katyusha recently analyzed in detail, starts as a large-scale educational experiment of foresight experts represented by German Gref, Dmitry Peskov and other fraternity throughout the country (at the first stage - in 14 pilot regions) and provides for education using e-learning and distance learning technologies on an ongoing basis and throughout Russia, regardless of the location of the student. This is a complete transfer of traditional face-to-face classroom instruction with “live” communication with a teacher into “online and offline modes” with a student sitting in front of a monitor screen for many hours.

The introduction of biometric surveillance in schools has a long history. Back in July 2018, ex-Minister of Education Olga Vasilyeva categorically announced that cameras for face recognition would be installed in schools, which would make it possible to identify everyone entering an educational institution by face (ntv.ru/novosti/2045929), which shocked the parental community. One way or another, the plans of the cyber lobbyists were announced very specifically - and they came directly from the head of the department. Thus, the regional ministries of education received an unambiguous hint …

“Now we have dozens of options for security systems, but the face identification system is not only reliable, but also cheaper than many others. She will not allow strangers to enter the school,”Vasilyeva said at the time

And here is the official information from the website of the Ministry of Education dated April 10, 2020 - at the very beginning of the coronavirus hysteria:

“The Minister of Education Sergei Kravtsov and the Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov met with the head of the Rostec State Corporation Sergei Chemezov, during which 13 developments were presented to the ministers … / … / for the comprehensive equipment of educational institutions: access control systems with face recognition and body temperature determination students and teachers, surveillance cameras, systems for online broadcasts and much more."

“The opportunity to acquire knowledge remotely is very important for a modern school, and not only during a period of forced isolation, as it is now: it will come in handy if a child cannot attend school due to illness; where there are not enough teachers, or in remote areas. It is important to maintain contact between the teacher and the student,”said Sergei Kravtsov

Also, the website of the Ministry of Education reports:

“Among the key developments is a comprehensive access control and accounting system: the equipment makes it possible to determine in real time who enters the school, to deny access to strangers. The IP dome camera for distance learning was also presented. With a high resolution of 5 megapixels and a highly sensitive sensor with powerful noise reduction and backlight compensation, the camera transmits high-definition images. This allows you to clearly see on the screen what the teacher is writing on the board."

How should all this be understood? And so that the distant at the direction of the Ministry of Education, in close conjunction with the cyber-lobbyists, will be introduced en masse, systematically and regardless of any external circumstances. Moreover, this crafty action is a direct continuation of the anti-reforms of the predecessor ministers Kravtsov and Falkov - the optimizers-liquidators of schools and the teachers of Fursenko-Livanov. Look, Kravtsov openly declares that in the event of a shortage of teachers or the absence of a school in any village / village, children in these places can simply be transferred to the distant. New teachers are no longer needed, and you can have only one school for the whole district - and for the rest of the children an electronic surrogate, harmful to the psyche and the body, will be organized with sitting for half a day in front of the monitor. Excellent "optimization", cost savings, and even billions of dollars in earnings for the office of state oligarch Chemezov (and officials from the Ministry of Education and the regions, it seems to us, will get a very large chunk of these government contracts).

That is, it is already clear. The stuffing of schools with biometric cameras will affect not only corridors, halls and staircases - they will also be installed in classrooms. Moreover, not only for the purpose of total surveillance, but in order to organize distance learning for those who, for various reasons, cannot be in the classroom, or, as in the period of the announced "prevention of coronavirus", only the teacher will be present in the class, and the students will observe him actions through computers, sitting at home on "self-isolation".

And here, as another vivid illustration, the words of the Minister of Education of the Kaluga Region Alexander Anikeev from his interview with a local radio station:

“It is our great fortune that we were in this experiment. We will be among 14 regions to pilot the implementation of DSP … Schools will receive modern security methods: access control systems, video cameras, there are quite a few of them, and with very good quality, which use face recognition technology and everything else. All this will appear in schools …"

Finally, one cannot fail to mention in this story the official responses from the regional ministries of education and the Ministry of Education itself. From mid-June, almost immediately after the news-bomb from Vedomosti appeared, parents joined the appeals of the Public Commissioner for the Protection of the Family and began to ask the officials uncomfortable questions: on what basis and in what order is the facial recognition system introduced in schools, how the constitutional the right to education for those who refuse it, how will the personal data of our children be protected and where will it be stored, etc. Most of the answers from regional education officials that are at the disposal of the Katyusha editorial staff can be categorized as “I am not me, and the horse is not mine”. Officials with a blue eye answer that they do not have information about the introduction of biometric cameras in schools in their regions, do not intend to comment on information from the media, have not received any instructions on installing cameras from the Ministry of Education, etc.

And here is a rather detailed answer from the federal ministry dated July 9 of this year, which makes sense to cite in its entirety:

The main conclusions that can be drawn from this answer are disappointing. First, the Ministry of Education explicitly states that within the framework of "anti-terrorist security", according to the relevant Government Decree, video surveillance cameras can be installed in schools. Secondly, the department directly refers to the same 152-FZ "On personal data", according to which, in the case of laws on defense, security and the fight against terrorism, consent to the processing of biometric PD is not required from a citizen. That is, it will be problematic for citizens to challenge such actions in court. And thirdly, in the ministry, just for safety reasons, they wash their hands and transfer all responsibility for the introduction of a biometric concentration camp in schools to the regions (referring to the same Government Decree): they say, school principals and heads of municipalities / regions should resolve issues with cameras directly, to which these schools are subject. Well, in order to completely disown this topic, the department clarifies:

“The Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation has not sent recommendations to the executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in the sphere of education on equipping educational institutions with a video surveillance system with a face recognition function”

Well, you get the idea. The information presented by Vedomosti is not directly refuted, and if anything, biometrics in schools is allegedly entirely an initiative of the regional authorities. And the regional authorities, in turn, declare that they have not received any directives on the introduction of cameras with face recognition from the federal center, but at the same time within the framework of budgetary investments, within the framework of participation in the DSP experiment, etc. these cameras will be massively installed.

As the most sane answer from the regions on biometrics in schools, we cite a letter from the Ministry of Education of the Primorsky Territory dated July 6 of this year:

Here they explain to us that the introduction of the Orwell system from Chubais-Chemezov in schools is really taking place, but not throughout the country, but as a pilot project in a number of regions - and this is generally carried out within the framework of the Digital Economy national program (and not within the framework of DSP / national project "Education"). And below is the most important clarification: the use of this system is permissible only with the written consent of all participants in the educational process, including parents (legal representatives of students), without this, their persons will not be entered into the databases. Pay attention - what a complete contrast with the answer from the Federal Ministry, given above. In it, the official Kostyuk tries with references to anti-terrorism and the Federal Law "On Personal Data" to convince parents that no one asks their consent to the use of such cameras and the processing of biometric PD of children!

So, as we see in the digitalizers of all Russia, everything is very closely intertwined. Here, the pilot federal project “Digital Educational Environment”, which is distance online education, and plans to introduce biometric cameras in all schools, which are being implemented under the cover of the same DSP and the “Digital Economy” national program, are also working in tandem - and the same cameras, recognizing faces, will subsequently be used to organize distance learning on the basis of school classes. In the same piggy bank we put the bill on the introduction of experimental legal regimes in any part of Russia (which was adopted by the State Duma on the recommendations of the president), where, with the active lobbying of the transhumanist usurer German Gref, unlimited experimentation on full-time education was included. In addition, the Government has already prepared a draft exclusion from the legislation of the right to collect biometrics of citizens only after their written consent - that is, it will be possible to flood schools with cameras with face recognition without hindrance, which Mr. Gref recently advocated during his conversation with President Putin.

It is already completely clear that the actively implemented new experimental "digital law" is the basis for the introduction of the same biometrics and remote control, followed by full control over children, adolescents and adults by "artificial intelligence". And not only in education, but in general in all spheres of life. For those for whom such a future does not seem bright, convenient and comfortable, it is time to think about self-organization and digital resistance. We will certainly notify our readers about relevant public events.