Amazon’s Creepy Facial Recognition Doorbell Will Surveil the ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD
By Meadow Clark
ActivistPost.com
DECEMBER 21, 2018
At first glance of Amazon’s new patent application, one would be tempted to think it no more than a built-in “smart” security system.
But no, this facial recognition surveillance doorbell does a lot more than record would-be thieves.
Ding! Dong! Prepare to be downright disturbed.
According to a new report, the patent application, made available in late November, would pair facial surveillance such as Rekognition, the product that Amazon is aggressively marketing to law enforcement, with Ring – a doorbell camera company that Amazon acquired in 2018.
CNN writes,
Amazon’s application says the process leads to safer, more connected neighborhoods, as well as better informed homeowners and law enforcement.
Yeah, that’s one way of putting it. Here’s another:
Amazon is dreaming of a dangerous future, with its technology at the center of a massive decentralized surveillance network, running real-time facial recognition on members of the public using cameras installed in people’s doorbells. – Jacob Snow, ACLU
Wow. Do you feel safer yet?
This tech isn’t really there to protect your house or neighborhood.
It’s going to record all who walk by and gather composite images and recordings that can be stored in the Cloud and accessed by law enforcement to help surveil and catch suspects.
One of the main problems – besides the obvious privacy violations and smashing the 4th Amendment to smithereens – is that facial recognition has been abysmal so far. That means if a database determines you are a suspect because you bear a striking resemblance, then the police could show up and detain you before you even drop off the potato salad to your next potluck.
Snow writes:
While the details are sketchy, the application describes a system that the police can use to match the faces of people walking by a doorbell camera with a photo database of persons they deem “suspicious.” Likewise, homeowners can also add photos of “suspicious” people into the system and then the doorbell’s facial recognition program will scan anyone passing their home. In either case, if a match occurs, the person’s face can be automatically sent to law enforcement, and the police could arrive in minutes.
It would be far to easy to get yourself on a “list” with this technology
CNN reports:
The application describes creating a database of suspicious persons. Unwanted visitors would be added to the list when a homeowner tags them as not authorized. Other people could be added to the database because they are a convicted felon or registered sex offender, according to the application. Residents may also alert neighbors of a suspicious person’s presence.
But some people, such as a mail courier, could be placed on an authorized persons list. Postal service logos could be used to help identify them.
Putting people on a naughty list? Wait, doesn’t that all sound eerily similar to the social credit system rolled out in China?
“The patent describes the neighborhood surveillance system as an opt-in service,” CNN adds.
But really, it is not possible to opt out of broad brushstroke surveillance. How can I opt out of my neighbor (and Amazon, and the government) storing everything about me in the Cloud? What if my neighbor hates that my tree branch hangs over their fence? Will I go on their suspicious persons list?
The Rest…HERE
