This paper examines the migration of military‑grade biometric surveillance systems—originally developed for asymmetric conflict zones—into Canadian and American civilian policing. It argues that these technologies do not create a new form of policing but automate the structural logic of carding by removing the visible encounter that once triggered constitutional and Charter protections. Through analysis of real‑time facial‑recognition deployments, body‑worn camera integration, and upstream database matching, the paper demonstrates how identification shifts from an event to an environment. As a result, legal safeguards tied to detention, search, and interaction fail to activate, producing a rights‑neutralizing infrastructure in which individuals are continuously identified without suspicion, consent, or awareness. The paper situates this shift within broader governance trends, highlighting how systems designed for population control abroad become normalized domestically under the guise of policing innovation.
Signal Rupture (Wed,) studied this question.