Seattle’s public safety committee meeting on Sept. 8 was expected to proceed as usual with public comments on surveillance technology. Instead a man in a silver mask came to the podium and the gloves of Doctor Doom, one of the most recognizable Marvel villains.
Surveillance systems are proliferating across US cities, and police departments are purchasing solutions from Flock Safety and Axon to support investigations. The complex includes CCTV cameras, automatic license plate readers and so-called real-time response centers that combine data from different sources into a single picture.
Proponents of the technology point to faster responses to incidents and easier searches for suspects. Critics cite risks to privacy, security of data storage and possible misuse of collected information.
While officials were discussing further expansion of the system, a city resident decided to clearly show where everything was going. The Marvel character thanked the committee for helping him realize the idea of total control.
Doctor Doom:
Doom has taken over Axon Enterprises, and now Doom will be watching you. Your further assistance in expanding the Duma surveillance network is mandatory.
The speaker then proceeded to list “gifts” to the city and promised to expand the real-time response center to all districts.
This is the first of Doom’s gifts to Seattle. The second gift is this – Doom will expand the real-time response center to all areas, and more than a thousand cameras will monitor every movement. Doom has complete dominance over Seattle.
How reported by 404 Mediabehind the mask was Clifford Cawthon, a policy advisor for the Washington State Department of Commerce. He has been following the issue of urban video surveillance for many years and is a member of the local initiative Community Not Cameras, which opposes the expansion of Flock and Axon systems.
The choice of character turned out to be symbolic. Victor von Doom rules the fictional country of Latveria, opposes the Fantastic Four and strives for absolute control, considering his own power the only path to order.
Seattle Doom ended his speech with a short warning.
Doom will be watching you. Glory to Latveria.
Previously, a similar trick was performed by a man dressed as Darth Vader.
