Popular Mechanic’s Panopticon

This month’s Popular Mechanics features a video camera on its cover and asks the question as to whether our “surveillance society” has gone too far.

James Vlahos, writes:

We have arrived at a unique moment in the history of surveillance. The price of both megapixels and gigabytes has plummeted, making it possible to collect a previously unimaginable quantity and quality of data. Advances in processing power and software, meanwhile, are beginning to allow computers to surmount the greatest limitation of traditional surveillance—the ability of eyeballs to effectively observe the activity on dozens of video screens simultaneously. Computers can't do all the work by themselves, but they can expand the capabilities of humans exponentially.

I think Vlahos does a pretty interesting job exploring both the benefits and pitfalls of some of our nation’s security initiatives and new technologies…and I am not just saying that because of his mention of my company, 3VR Security.

Here is what he had to say about us though:

Used by banks, hotels and retail stores, 3VR’s “searchable surveillance” systems automatically create a template of every face that passes in front of security cameras (it caught our author here at a Chicago hotel check-in counter). The system creates a mathematical model based on the geometry of each person’s face that can be compared to a central list of known suspects for instant alerts. The technology can also automatically log events based on an automated object recognition analysis of an entire scene—for example, Frank Jones met with Doris Meeker at 12:45 pm; Meeker arrived in a blue sedan. Because all events are cataloged, several months’ worth of data can be analyzed in minutes.

One point Vlahos doesn’t make in his article, however, relates to the dual-benefit of many of these new surveillance technologies. While traditional security approaches are not particularly effective or conducive to privacy, new more effective technologies don’t necessary bring with them even greater privacy issues. For instance, the use of search engines and video analysis greatly increases the chance of catching bad guys before they strike. But, these same technologies can be used to help audit surveillance monitoring efforts and generally limit their abuse, as well.

Hollywood’s New Look

It seems that video surveillance has become so prevalent that even movie producers are depicting life from the eye of the camera. Whether this is a hit or a flop doesn't really matter--the film itself is a statement of how pervasive cameras have become.

Movie director Adam Rifkin poses in New York, Monday Oct. 29 , 2007. His new film "Look," was created entirely from the perspective of surveillance cameras. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

Look!

The new trailer is out:

It all comes down to trust...and technology

Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to implement a London-style congestion based traffic pricing system has been getting a lot of criticism from privacy advocates recently. Chris Dunn and Donna Lieberman’s piece in the NY Daily News today is no exception:

So far, public debate about Mayor Bloomberg's congestion-pricing proposal has focused on issues like the specific boundaries of a congestion-pricing zone, the fees drivers will pay, the impact on mass transit and how much congestion pricing will actually reduce traffic congestion. Lost in this discussion has been the fact that implementation of congestion pricing could involve the creation of a massive system of surveillance cameras. Like the program already in place in London, the congestion-pricing plan being considered here would use cameras to read and record the license plate of every car, truck and motorcycle entering or leaving the congestion-pricing zone, as well as of many vehicles traveling inside the zone. The system then would match that license plate information against a database of vehicle owners to bill drivers the congestion-pricing fee. This type of plan raises enormous privacy concerns.

While it’s true that over 70% of American’s state a willingness to endure privacy invasion and surveillance as part of efforts to fight crime and save lives, traffic enforcement efforts using the same technologies aren’t nearly so popular. That’s Bloomberg’s problem. His “surveillance” cameras aren’t REALLY for general surveillance. Instead, they are specialized high-speed cameras zoomed in to focus on the license plates of Manhattan traffic. And while they’ll do an excellent job tracking the daily movements of NY commuters, they will do very little to deter crime in the areas they are deployed.

Cameras, Cameras Everywhere: Uganda Edition

Police in Entebbe and Kampala had to defend themselves recently against accusations that the municipal CCTV system crashed just before a visit from the Queen. Quite the scandal, the purported failure drew the attention of civic leaders and the press.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200712060082.html

Journalists were also shown footage captured during the Queen's arrival in Kampala. The system has 50 surveillance cameras installed by Ssekanyolya Systems in Kampala and Entebbe. The control centre has three giant monitors, which are partitioned to show footage from the cameras. There are also 11 computer units that officials use to analyze the footage.

After proving the systems operational status during the Queens visit, police officials shared some thoughts on the future of CCTV in their country.

Flanked by acting commissioner for communications, Paul Nasimolo, Kasingye said the cameras were meant to boost the other methods of deterring crime. "We are in an era where technology can be used to investigate and deter crime. Gone are the days when you had to deploy hundreds of Police officers in an area."

Welcome the new Uganda.

The New Face of Photography

Stephen Shankland/CNET Networks is reporting on increasingly successful attempts to make cutting edge technologies like “face tracking” and “facial recognition” a common…and very useful…tool in amateur photography. While cameras that can adjust to keep faces clear and in focus have been around for a while, the conventional wisdom has been that actual face recognition is simply too computationally expensive to do at any scale on diminutive platforms like digital cameras.

Face recognition requires computational horsepower that is hard to fit into the confines of a digital camera, but one company likely to help make it a reality is Fotonation, which already supplies face-detection software for dozens of camera models from Samsung, Pentax, and others. The computational challenge is reduced by the fact that most folks tend to photograph the same set of 25 or 30 people, Eric Zarakov, Fotonation's vice president of marketing, said in an interview here at the 6sight digital imaging conference. A camera could be "trained" to recognize just those particular people.

I am not sure the technical constraint described here is still genuine, however. For instance, even though we have no immediate plans to do so, the facial recognition technology that we’ve built at 3VR could be adapted to provide real-time recognition of thousands of individuals...even on devices as underpowered as consumer digital cameras. Amateur photography might benefit from the same approaches.

Shoplifting on Steroids

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/1202biz-ev-secruity1203.html

Shoplifting has always been bad news. It’s also BIG business. According to Jason Beckerman, a Target Investigator, if you added up burglaries, auto theft, and indeed every kind of theft outside of shoplifting, you’d still have a problem less than half as large as shoplifting itself. In the Arizona Republic he is quoted as saying, “The value of property lost in […] excluding shoplifting was $18 billion in 2006. Shoplifting losses totaled more than $40 billion that year.” Part of the problem more recently has been professionalization of retail theft. Shoplifting isn’t so much about teen-agers sneaking a pair of designer jeans past a checkout counter anymore. Instead, well organized gangs of criminals steal huge quantities of popular goods from stores and warehouses. Items targeted range from iPods, to Visine, to baby formula, with values per truckload often reaching into the millions.

And because the Internet offers so many ready-made outlets, like eBay, to quickly sell stolen merchandise, cashing in on stolen goods is easier than ever. It’s enough to make one long for the good old days when crooks could be found selling speakers out of the trunk of a car for 10 cents on the dollar.

Smarter and more organized criminals, along with this so-called “fast food fencing,” have lead retailers to adopt higher prices and new approaches to fighting crime. They’ve been forced to become smarter and more organized themselves, building in-house investigative teams armed with technology straight out of C.S.I. For example:

This fiscal year, Target has closed 30 investigations, made 60 arrests and is
working about 16 cases in Arizona and New Mexico. Target has three investigators
in Arizona to hunt down the biggest offenders here and in New Mexico. The chain
also operates two forensic labs in the United States, including one in Las
Vegas.

Facial recognition systems and other advanced surveillance technologies are also being deployed to investigate, and more importantly prevent, organized retail theft. Today, databases of known criminals and gang members can be shared across retail institutions and tied directly into participating stores’ camera networks. When a “bad guy” is spotted on camera, security personal are instantly alerted. And as importantly, the advanced search engines can be used instantly sift through company surveillance archives for any and all related evidence to a suspect.

Shoplifters may be getting smarter and more organized, but they aren’t the only ones. And in an arms race between the bad guys and the Targets, Walgreens, and Wal-marts of the world… I think the smart money is on Wal-mart.


Target investigator Jason Beckerman (left) and Dan Helmick, a security leader for Target, watch monitors in a security office at a store in Mesa.

Nashville Schools Face Rec System (Update)

http://www.wkrn.com/nashville/news/metro-schools-unveil-face-recognition-cameras/131643.htm

From WKRN:

Tuesday, Metro Nashville Schools unveiled its new security system, aimed at keeping unwanted people out of the school buildings. As a test, the face-recognition cameras will be installed in three Metro schools. The cameras will work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, taking snapshots of every individual, looking for people who may not be welcomed. Ralph Thompson, Metro Schools’ Assistant Superintendent, said, “For instance, everyone that entered the building is now in the data bank and all we have to do is go back and store that image and put it on either our watch list or an approved list to come into the building.”