Source: theintercept.com 9/2/23
The future of wearable technology, beyond now-standard accessories like smartwatches and fitness tracking rings, is ePANTS, according to the intelligence community.
The federal government has shelled out at least $22 million in an effort to develop “smart” clothing that spies on the wearer and its surroundings. Similar to previous moonshot projects funded by military and intelligence agencies, the inspiration may have come from science fiction and superpowers, but the basic applications are on brand for the government: surveillance and data collection.
Billed as the “largest single investment to develop Active Smart Textiles,” the SMART ePANTS — Smart Electrically Powered and Networked Textile Systems — program aims to develop clothing capable of recording audio, video, and geolocation data, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence announced in an August 22 press release. Garments slated for production include shirts, pants, socks, and underwear, all of which are intended to be washable.
The project is being undertaken by the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity, the intelligence community’s secretive counterpart to the military’s better-known Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA. IARPA’s website says it “invests federal funding into high-risk, high reward projects to address challenges facing the intelligence community.” Its tolerance for risk has led to both impressive achievements, like a Nobel Prize awarded to physicist David Wineland for his research on quantum computing funded by IARPA, as well as costly failures.
“A lot of the IARPA and DARPA programs are like throwing spaghetti against the refrigerator,” Annie Jacobsen, author of a book about DARPA, “The Pentagon’s Brain,” told The Intercept. “It may or may not stick.”
According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s press release, “This eTextile technology could also assist personnel and first responders in dangerous, high-stress environments, such as crime scenes and arms control inspections without impeding their ability to swiftly and safely operate.”
Um…NO. We don’t need any more intrusive technologies under the guise of safety. The more data that is harvested from each human being the more likely it will be used against us. And I don’t mean Registrants.
““smart” clothing that spies on the wearer”? So, like the probationer who gets a free set of boxer briefs from his probation officer on his birthday doesn’t know they are something other than Fruit of the Loom?
Smart technology in underwear and how that is not intrusive. In my opinion the people who believe this is smart to do should be monitored. Government keep your lustful eyes off our bodies, houses, cars, and other technology because that isn’t freedom.
Underwear with ball tracking. Once that is a reality, they will pass a law, stating that registrants cannot go commando.
Underwear that can record sound? I hope the sound of my farts serves them well.