A.I.-Based “Seeker” Camera System in Development for Police Use

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by Micah J. Fleck

A new automated camera system designed for seeking out and identifying citizens through remote means is reportedly in development for police use. The technology will make it possible to “seek” out people by tapping into existing camera footage across the country and utilizing cutting edge face- and body-recognition software.

According to a recent report:

The development of such advanced technology suggests that body cameras, which are already being worn by police departments across the country, could soon become powerful surveillance tools capable of identifying different objects, events, and people encountered by officers on the street.

While the idea is to use machine learning algorithms to speed up the process of combing through and redacting hours of video footage by allowing police to use keywords to search through video footage. And it’s worth noting that the current version of the technology doesn’t include facial recognition the company has previously stated to Bloomberg that they are working on implementing such Orwellian technology.

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Such an implementation will be a major privacy risk, especially since there are no known current federal laws preventing police from searching through large databases to track someone’s every movement.

Where it will be good to catch real criminals if laws are not put into place to limit such technologies use to catching kidnappers and terrorist we could quickly be living in a “Strange Days” type of dystopia where the police can scan your every move. And even if there are laws that doesn’t necessarily mean that the people in charge are going to follow them so while this technology may make us “safer” it’s literally building the framework for a police state.

What’s scarier is it’s already starting in New York, the government privately asked surveillance companies to pitch a vast camera system they could install on bridges and tunnels that would scan and identify people who drive in and out of New York City.

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