The Boundaries of Counterterrorism

In 2017, because of Japan’s high crime rate, the parliament passes a DNA law that establishes a secret database called “Platinum Data” that contains the genetic information of all its country’s citizens. By comparing the strands of hair and bodily fluids left at crime scenes, the police can arrest and manage criminals with maximum efficiency.

The plot of the Japanese film “Platinum Data” closely resembles real life. In fact, the 2002 film “Minority Report” starring Tom Cruise already envisioned the extreme limits of crime prevention: In 2054, in Washington, D.C., three individuals with the ability to predict the future enable police to arrest murderers before they act, thus eliminating crime completely.

After the Boston Marathon bombing, the clamor throughout the U.S. in support of installing more street surveillance equipment has increased. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that if the suspects had arrived in Times Square, they would have encountered an omnipresent network of surveillance cameras. Also known as the “dashboard,” the Domain Awareness System was developed by Microsoft for the New York Police Department. The project took three years to complete and cost $40 million.

Systematic analysis of images from the city’s more than 4,000 surveillance cameras, street view maps, arrest records, parking tickets and radiation detectors captures everything. What if the police need to find a suspect who is wearing a red shirt? No problem. The system can point out anyone wearing a red shirt in a crowd.

Bloomberg said that since 9/11, New York has experienced a total of 16 attempted attacks, all of which failed thanks to the system in place. Boston did not purchase this system, but the FBI has already invested $1 billion in Next Generation Identification, which will identify suspects. This large-scale biometric program can cross-compare crime scene photos of a suspect with a database of 12 million images.

Whether it is the recognition system in New York or Boston, the more powerful the system’s capabilities, the greater the chance of infringing upon human rights. President Obama has used violence against civilians as a reason to call the recent bombing a terrorist attack, potentially expanding the definition of the term.

If fighting terrorism commands unlimited means, then human rights will be difficult to protect.