Brazil
Becomes Hot Market for Surveillance Technology Ahead of World Cup
Written by Bruno Fonseca, Jessica Mota, Luiza Bodenmüller and
Natalia Viana, by Agência Pública
Giants of the surveillance sector get contracts in a number of
Brazilian cities during the games of 2014 – from security scanners to remote
tracking software.
Shortly
after being informed of US National Security Agency (NSA) spying, President
Dilma Rouseff asked ministers Paulo Bernardo (Communication) and José Eduardo
Cardozo (Justice) to include in the Marco Civil da Internet, a charter of
Brazilian Internet users, a mechanism that allows the suspension of operation
of companies that cooperate with international spying schemes. “It could apply
to banks, or telephone companies,” said the Minister of Communication.
But the
security of sensitive data could also be guaranteed by multinational
surveillance companies, given that a large part of the increasing demand for
surveillance in the World Cup will be supplied by sector giants – the same
companies that provide equipment and software to police forces all over the
world, including the American government and the NSA.
Most of
them are mentioned in the recent publication by Wikileaks, part of the Spy Files 3
project , a compilation of 249 documents from 92 companies,
among them brochures, contracts and metadata referring to some of the business
leaders of the sector. They show that, in relation to mega-events, Brazil has
become priority for the global surveillance industry.
The
Extraordinary Secretariat for Large Events (SESGE) has been acquiring a number
of technologies for public security. Two hundred million Brazilian reais
[nearly 87 million US dollars] have been spent on national-level contracts. And
the industry of surveillance equipment is betting heavily on taking advantage
of this opportunity. In recent years, a number of industry fairs have taken
place in the country.
When
surveillance specialists get together
In July,
in Brasilia it was ISS World s turn, bringing together policy,
security officials and intelligence analysts for training in legal
interception, high tech electronic investigations and networked data
collection. Financed by the biggest in the sector, like Gamma Group,
Hackingtean, Cobhan Surveillance, Hidden Technology, GlimmerGlass and the
Brazilian firm Suntech, the directors of these companies lead workshops.
For
example, some courses taught participants how to use social networks as open
sources in criminal investigations, or how to better use Facebook: from
security on Facebook through to retention of data and interaction with security
forces. Another training, given by the firm Group 2000 Netherlands, looked at
the how interception of data works at a national level, combined with LBS
(location-based service) – a computer programming service that allows for
inclusion of place and time in a system as it is used. The firm IPS also
featured social media and webmail: the architecture of Big Data for mass
interception, beyond the course on “expert intrusion” of social networks and
webmail. The Brazilian company Suntech, which is now part of the American group
Verint, funded a whole day of training, with special focus on interception of telecommunications.
Beyond
the ISS, the LAAD (Latin American Aerospace & Defence), one of the main
fairs of security and defense companies in Latin America, has been held in
Brazil since 1995, with support from the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry
of Justice. In recent years, mega-events have been the principal focus of this
fair, home for a great deal of business in the sector.
In 2011,
for example, the Ministry of Defense announced a project for the Integrated
Border Monitoring System (SISFRON), based on a network of sensors interlinked
with control and command systems. The military wanted to accelerate the
construction of the system because of the World Cup and the Olympics. The
estimated cost, $6-7 billion reais [between $2.7 and 3.1 billion US dollars],
enthused international markets. The reason: in spite of national firm Embraer
being given the construction of the system, the Saab Group of Sweden, made it
be known that its German subsidiary MEDAV will supply, as a subcontractor, the
mobile and static sensor systems for the program, allowing for the monitoring
and identification of HF, VHF, and UHF frequencies.
This year
more than 30,000 visitors attended LAAD, which hosted 720 exhibitors from 65
countries, among those present representatives from the Ministries of Defense
of the Ukraine, United Kingdom, Argentina and South Africa. In 2014, year of
the World Cup, a smaller version, only on security, is set for April 8-10, in
Riocentro.