De grote Broer gaat Auto
De bedreiging van camera's combineerde met kunstmatige intelligentie
Door Mike Elgan
De activisten van de privacy hebben stijgend toezicht door camera's betreurd en van misbruik door autoriteiten gewaarschuwd die toegang tot hen hebben. Maar twee extra tendensen voorspellen een storende nieuwe richting.
De eerste tendens: De camera's controleren meer en meer noncriminals belast met technisch wettelijk gedrag. De tweede tendens: De speciale nieuwe kunstmatige intelligentiesoftware verwerkt videovoer om onaanvaardbaar gedrag te zoeken.
De machines letten op ons, en zij maken oordelen over wat wij doen.
Een andere manier om deze het in botsing komen tendensen te bekijken is dat wij beginnen de menselijke capaciteit voor ethiek, ethiek en goed burgerschap aan computersystemen te ontladen. Ten minste, vervangen deze systemen de traditionele rol van de bemoeizieke buur.
Zo veel voor het eersysteem
Troy Universiteit, die is gebaseerd in Alabama maar ongeveer 11.000 online studenten wereldwijd heeft, is van plan om een nieuw systeem te onthullen deze daling voor het vangen van studenten die tijdens online tests bedriegen. Het systeem wordt gemaakt door Cambridge, Massa. - gebaseerd Veilig Inc. van de Software. en kosten elke student $125.
De authentificatie van de vingerafdruk verzekert dat slechts de geregistreerde student (eerder dan een slimmere vriend) eigenlijk een test neemt. De speciale software laat de school toe om de computer van de student te sluiten zodat kan hij niet naar antwoorden zoeken plaatselijk of zelfs online. Een perifeer apparaat bevat een microfoon en een camera die op een bal met een spiegeloppervlakte wordt benadrukt, die de camera een 360 graadmening geeft. Audio en de video wordt verzonden over Internet voor „verwerking“ - en dat is waar de dingen werkelijk interessant worden.
De software luistert aan de audio en let op de video en markeert om het even welke verdachte lawaai of bewegingen. De ambtenaren of de instructeurs van de school kunnen besluiten de gemarkeerde gedeelten voer dan controleren en of het bedriegen heeft plaatsgevonden.
Veilige de software brengt het systeem aan een brede waaier van scholen op de markt en test organisaties die tests beheren.
Wat gaat werkelijk hier op?
Camera's van het toezicht voor het vangen van oplichters hebben voor decennia in banken, juwelenopslag, alcoholische drankopslag en andere plaatsen er bestaan waar de diefstallen waarschijnlijk zijn. Gewoonlijk, wordt de geregistreerde lengte herzien slechts nadat de misdaden hebben plaatsgevonden. De laatste jaren, de „rood licht“ camera's zijn opgesteld als nonhuman getuigen van bewegend verkeersschendingen. Police in some cities set up cameras on streets, so if a crime is reported, they can check the footage. Airport security areas, Las Vegas casinos, stadiums and other public venues are certain to contain surveillance cameras to catch criminals.
The Software Secure anticheating system would be merely interesting and novel if it weren’t part of a growing trend in which software watches noncriminals to enforce ethics, morality and good citizenship, not felony laws. Here are more examples.
The Weymouth and Portland Borough Council in Dorset, England, plans to hide surveillance cameras in trash bins to make sure residents put bins in the right place at the right time. These “TrashCams” will enable town officials to issue tickets and fines of up to 10,000 pounds to residents who put bins in the wrong spot or outside the scheduled pickup hours.
An Illinois school district fired a custodian two weeks ago for exceeding his break time based on evidence gathered by a hidden video surveillance camera in the teachers’ lounge.
Schools are increasingly installing cameras to spy on students. The stated reasons include the prosecution of crimes likely to occur at a school such as vandalism and theft, but the cameras also can be used to enforce school rules such as tardiness, truancy and running in the halls.
How that slippery slope works
Is it a good idea to put cameras everywhere to punish noncriminal behavior? Most people would say no. So how does it happen? It starts with justifying the use of surveillance and then reinforcing the decision, often in the following sequence:
1. Dramatic fears are used for justification. Terrorism and violent crime — such as big, horrifying news events like Columbine and Virginia Tech — are trotted out by people in charge of security to justify cameras everywhere.
2. Cost is another justification. Cash-strapped school districts and other organizations think that cameras can save money. It’s cheaper to install 20 cameras and hire one guard than it is to hire 20 guards.
3. When big events do happen on camera, it’s news. We hear about most of the high-profile, true-crime, happy-ending events where a real crook is busted with the help of a camera and then brought to justice. These stories build our comfort level with ubiquitous surveillance and strengthen the hand of those who want cameras watching everyone, all the time.
4. Most of the activity caught on tape is noncriminal. Once the cameras are installed, the big events almost never happen — but the cameras are recording everyone anyway.
5. There they are in black and white (and, increasingly, in color): People doing rude things, bending or breaking minor rules, abusing privileges, cheating, disturbing others, cussing, spitting, cutting in line, using profane hand gestures.
6. The moment of truth comes: What to do about it? Next thing you know, organizations start taking action on every transgression, even when no law has been broken.
On the one hand, there’s nothing wrong with people getting caught for being unkind, unethical, using profanity, chewing gum in class, littering and other minor but unpleasant actions. On the other hand, do we want to live in a world where cameras and computers watch our every move and report every minor transgression? Are we heading toward a system where fines are issued on the spot for profanity, like in the 1993 Sylvester Stallone movie Demolition Man?
Are we moving to a society where right and wrong is synonymous with “caught on tape” or “not caught on tape”? Has anyone even noticed that we’re sliding down this slippery slope?
We need to watch the watchers
The new surveillance technology is impressive and can help counter major crimes and terrorist acts, and save lives. But less impressive are our rules, guidelines and restrictions on the growing use of cameras and artificial intelligence to monitor minor crimes and noncriminal activity.
Each individual case can be justified, but there can be no justification for us to blindly slouch toward an Orwellian society in which computer software is employed to watch and judge everyone — and expose, record and punish every minor transgression.
We shouldn’t try to replace etiquette, good manners, personal ethics and morality with cybercops. The old-fashioned social controls aren’t perfect — certainly not as perfect as computer-enhanced controls can be — and that’s precisely why we can live with them.
See More:Big BrotherHave Your Say: Big Brother Goes Auto
Please note, only selected comments will be published.
Or discuss this report in our our new forums
This entry was posted on Friday, June 22nd, 2007 at 9:37 pm and is filed under Contributions & Guests . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Free Newsletter
Loading ...Related News
- Big Brother Keeping Tabs On Students
- Big Brother Insanity: Cameras Watching Cameras
- Big Brother Britain: Wireless CCTV Can Be Hidden Inside Clothing
- Australians Fear Cities Becoming Like Great ‘Orwellian’ Britain
- Surveillance cameras, metal detectors in US schools
Email This Page To A Friend
Latest Headlines
- The Pentagon vs. America
- Data fear haunts ID card scheme
- Pentagon Targeted Iran for Regime Change after 9/11
- Gov set to defy its own experts and upgrade cannabis
- Nuns are turned away from Indiana polls
- FBI agents raid office protecting whistleblowers
- ‘Torture memo’ author, former attorney general, to testify
- The Surveillance Society Does Not Work
- Government can’t be trusted with our personal information
- ID-cards are ‘theft’ of our civil liberties
More Breaking News
Archive