tl;dr:

The CIA used a photo of pilgrims attending the Hajj to illustrate the potential capabilities of new surveillance and artificial intelligence technologies, Middle East Eye can reveal. The image appeared in a presentation by a senior official in the CIA’s Digital Innovation Directorate on how the spy agency’s shift to cloud-based technologies was transforming its intelligence-gathering capabilities. There is no suggestion he is a subject of interest to the CIA. MEE asked the CIA whether it had the capabilities to deploy surveillance technologies to monitor people attending the Hajj, and whether it would do so during this year’s pilgrimage which begins on Monday. The use of the image has prompted concerns among Muslim advocacy organisations and legal experts on surveillance technologies. Jumana Musa, director of the Fourth Amendment Center at the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, which advises lawyers in cases involving new surveillance tools, said the presentation highlighted questions about how technology was being used beyond US borders where constitutional protections did not apply.

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