US Spy Agencies Invest $22 Million in 'Smart Clothing' That Could Monitor Wearer, Secretly Surveil Anyone Nearby
Imagine if your own clothes were spying on you.
A research operation for the U.S. intelligence community is developing clothing with the capability to monitor and record its wearer and his or her surroundings.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence touted the research project in an August news release.
“The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity … recently launched a cutting-edge program that aims to make performance-grade, computerized clothing a reality,” the release said.
The project aims to provide U.S. government agencies with “durable, ready-to-wear clothing that can record audio, video, and geolocation data,” the DNI’s office said.
The concept is billed as Smart Electrically Powered and Networked Textile Systems — or SMART ePANTS. (Yes, seriously.)
“IARPA is proud to lead this first-of-its-kind effort for both the IC and broader scientific community which will bring much-needed innovation to the field of [active smart textiles],” SMART ePANTS Program Manager Dawson Cagle said of the project.
“To date no group has committed the time and resources necessary to fashion the first integrated electronics that are stretchable, bendable, comfortable, and washable like regular clothing,”Cagle said.
SMART ePANTS research contracts have been awarded to several organizations, including SRI International, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Nautilus Defense, the release said.
The federal government is funding the project to the tune of $22 million, according to The Intercept.
Washable shirts, pants, socks and underwear are all part of the program, the outlet reported this month.
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. https://t.co/1MsrKRDfpB
— The Intercept (@theintercept) September 5, 2023
The DNI office’s news release described crime scenes and international arms inspections as settings in which the smart clothing could be used.
The surveillance capabilities of the concept remain unclear as it remains in an early developmental stage.
Critics of the SMART ePANTS program point to the potential use of the concept in illegal surveillance.
Annie Jacobsen, author of “The Pentagon’s Brain,” told The Intercept that the program could become a tool to “create the vast intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance systems of the future.”
“They want to know more about you than you,” she said.
The federal government recently shelled out $22 million of your tax dollars to develop “smart” clothing, including “smart underwear,” capable of recording video, audio & geolocation in an IARPA (the CIA’s counterpart of DARPA) project called “SMART ePANTS.”
What could go wrong? pic.twitter.com/SFrUpD3psQ
— Jason Bassler (@JasonBassler1) September 6, 2023
SMART ePANTS is intended as a 42-month research project, according to the news release.
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