Another Creepy Service From The Trapwire Corporate Family -- NEXTBUS?

Alternate title for graphic as well as post: Invasion of the Privacy Snatchers.

In case you haven’t heard, a company called TrapWire has been analysing and storing data collected from High Value Targets – stadiums, monuments, power plants, tourist spots – all across America, as well as in Canada, the UK, and the rest of the developed world. 

TrapWire’s board of directors reads like a who’s who from the intelligence industry.  Of the tech, the claim “better than facial recognition” was made in 2005.  If this is uncomfortably close to science fiction, then the goals have already crossed over, specifically, into the most popularized scenarios from Minority Report.  The TrapWire family of companies is creepier still.  And, making my hair stand on end, the local evidence of these shenanigans is straight out of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Specifically, the municipal transportation systems of Santa Mira, where, if the buses and trains do not always run on time, I am pretty sure there’s an app that citizens can download onto their smartphones.  And if we don’t have smartphones?  How convenient – a system whereby, instead of waiting out in the cold, we can receive a text message, sent to where ever we happen to be, and so while we wait we can remain warm, comfortable, and… …safe. 

It goes without saying, these days – or it should – that if you download information from the Panopticon, the Panopticon also downloads information from you.

So here in short order and probably not enough context.  We can reproduce the order I instructed a dear friend of mine to follow, for lack of a more convenient model.

Do a search for (not in quotes) SURVEILLANCE BETTER THAN FACIAL RECOGNITION. The first article to come up should be Russia Today. Here is  some of the best bits, with a link, of course.

What is believed to be a partnering agreement included in the Stratfor files from August 13, 2009 indicates that they signed a contract with Abraxas to provide them with analysis and reports of their TrapWire system (pdf). 

“Suspicious activity reports from all facilities on the TrapWire network are aggregated in a central database and run through a rules engine that searches for patterns indicative of terrorist surveillance operations and other attack preparations,” Crime and Justice International magazine explains in a 2006 article on the program, one of the few publically circulated on the Abraxas product (pdf). “Any patterns detected – links among individuals, vehicles or activities – will be reported back to each affected facility. This information can also be shared with law enforcement organizations, enabling them to begin investigations into the suspected surveillance cell.”

In a 2005 interview with The Entrepreneur Center, Abraxas founder Richard “Hollis” Helms said his signature product “can collect information about people and vehicles that is more accurate than facial recognition, draw patterns, and do threat assessments of areas that may be under observation from terrorists.” He calls it “a proprietary technology designed to protect critical national infrastructure from a terrorist attack by detecting the pre-attack activities of the terrorist and enabling law enforcement to investigate and engage the terrorist long before an attack is executed,” and that, “The beauty of it is that we can protect an infinite number of facilities just as efficiently as we can one and we push information out to local law authorities automatically.”

An internal email from early 2011 included in the Global Intelligence Files has Stratfor’s Burton allegedly saying the program can be used to “[walk] back and track the suspects from the get go w/facial recognition software.”


Since its inception, TrapWire has been implemented in most major American cities at selected high value targets (HVTs) and has appeared abroad as well. The iWatch monitoring system adopted by the Los Angeles Police Department (pdf) works in conjunction with TrapWire, as does the District of Columbia and the "See Something, Say Something" program conducted by law enforcement in New York City, which had 500 surveillance cameras linked to the system in 2010. Private properties including Las Vegas, Nevada casinos have subscribed to the system. The State of Texas reportedly spent half a million dollars with an additional annual licensing fee of $150,000 to employ TrapWire, and the Pentagon and other military facilities have allegedly signed on as well.

Read more

Then search for ROOTS ABRAXAS TRAPWIRE – but if you follow this blog perhaps you have already seen my post.  Here is a relevant bit, originally from Cryptome.

On 13 August 2012, Cubic Corporation released a press statement entitled "Cubic Corporation Has No Affiliation with Trapwire, Inc.", indicating that "Erroneous reports have linked the company with Trapwire, Inc.".

They further state that "Cubic Corporation (NYSE: CUB) acquired Abraxas Corporation on December 20, 2010. Abraxas Corporation then and now has no affiliation with Abraxas Applications now known as Trapwire, Inc."

However, as the merger agreement and subsequent exhibits in Cubic Corporations SEC filings, available below, show, Cubic Corporation also acquired Abraxas Dauntless as part of their merger-acquisition of Abraxas Corporation. Abraxas Dauntless is a wholly owned subsidiary of Abraxas Corporation, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cubic Corporation.

Read more

all stills: the Invasion of the Body Snatchers

And now, the creepy part.  There is a service ‘round these parts, maybe where you are too.  It is called NextBus, and, in their own words,

From the comfort and security of a protected place, they can learn when the next bus will arrive at your stop

And look at that! at the bottom of the page.

"From a protected place." "Where you are warm, and safe"  

When you get a message from the Panopticon, the Panopticon also gets a message from you, or rather, your GPS enabled device.

 I hear they also own the company that makes those cards that can be used on more than one type of transportation system.  Track you across train, bus, underground.

Be seeing you, and have a nice day.