The US government utilizes numerous high-tech surveillance towers along the southern border, some of which rely on artificial intelligence to detect individuals and illicit activities such as drug trafficking and unauthorized migration, making it an innovative virtual border.
The technological advancements in new surveillance systems have raised concerns about civil liberties, as digital watchdog organizations have reported.
Border surveillance towers have been in place for many years, but the new standalone towers equipped with artificial intelligence can better detect suspicious activities.
The United States has installed approximately 300 different types of surveillance towers along the western coast from California to Texas, as reported by the Electronic Borders Foundation, a non-profit organization that monitors civil rights in the digital world.
The non-profit organization identified the presence of surveillance towers extending across remote and densely populated border areas through the use of public records, satellite imagery, ground surveys, and virtual reality.
The US Customs and Border Protection agency praises independent technology as a crucial tool that enhances agents’ capabilities in performing their tasks.
Supported by both Republican and Democratic parties, the Customs and Border Protection office mentioned that more independent surveillance towers are on the way.
The standalone surveillance towers feature radar devices and 360-degree angle sensors capable of scanning several kilometers.
These towers are equipped with artificial intelligence programs that distinguish humans from desert animals.
Through programming, monitoring can be disabled in specific areas of surveillance, such as homes in private farms, to prevent surveillance.
The surveillance towers equipped with artificial intelligence software send images to border patrol agents, who then have the ability to deploy clients in the area where suspicious activity is detected.
The towers operate using solar power and can be constructed quickly without the need for digging or concrete, also meaning they can be easily relocated.
This new technology comes six years after blaming border patrol surveillance techniques by the US Government Accountability Office, urging for improved data quality and efficiency.
In 2011, Janet Napolitano, the Secretary of Homeland Security, decided to halt President George W. Bush’s billion-dollar initiative to create a 1126-kilometer virtual border fence due to technology and implementation issues.
The new surveillance towers are being installed in public, private, and tribal areas, with many located in sites with few border guards.
Dave Moss, Investigations Director at the Electronic Borders Foundation, mentioned that it is unclear whether the border-surveillance towers near the border also monitor individuals in Mexico, and also unknown if towers near cities monitor ordinary citizens.
The US continues to build more towers along the border, as reported by Customs and Border Protection.
