Mind How You Walk - Someone is Watching 256
mrbluze writes "The Telegraph has an opinion article about the future of the extensive CCTV network in the United Kingdom. Automated analysis of how and where people are walking or otherwise moving, and what objects they carry or leave behind, flags the attention of security staff. This is meant to preempt a crime and make suspects identifiable even by gait. The technology is of questionable public benefit since street crime has not decreased despite the presence of CCTV. 'An airport camera can be programmed to know what a departure hall should look like, with thousands of separate movements. A single suitcase left for any length of time would trigger an alarm. This technology was developed for use in hotels to alert staff to a breakfast tray left outside a room. Soon, it will be coming to a street near you. Why not go the whole hog and have microphones attached to cameras or embedded in street lights?'"
Silly Walks (Score:5, Funny)
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Step1: id new target
Step2: characterize target
Step3: analyze future targets
Step4: compare with previously cataloged characteristics.
Step5: identify targets with matching characteristics as being the same target.
silly walk man just made step 5 very easy by making steps 2 and 4 very distinct from all other targets.
Now, if everyone walked silly, that would be different. There should be a grassroots 'walk silly f
Finally! (Score:4, Funny)
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Possibly.
It also further illustrates the "importance of NOT being seen..."
Big Brother alive and well in the UK (Score:5, Insightful)
Already done :-( I don't know about sleepwalking into a surveillance society.
I think we're running towards it with open arms at the moment.
http://tinyurl.com/2vbx8g [tinyurl.com]
Re:Big Brother alive and well in the UK (Score:5, Insightful)
"The mobile units cost £15,000 each and are similar in design to the cameras used in the reality show Big Brother in that they can rotate 360 degrees."
I'm amazed people don't see the irony here..
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Anything to please the nanny state, the Tories and Labour are outdoing each other on the subject!
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I actually have nightmares about innocently watching channel 4 and then seeing that eye flash on the screen for a split second. It's not that the eye which scares me but the knowledge that all enjoyment of watching TV is going to be completely destroyed in a couple of weeks time.
And you just now that on the next Big Brother, Channel 4 will come up with another publicity stunt like the whole "racist comments" thing from last time so all other media outlets will onc
Microphones used to detect gunshots (Score:2)
Re:Microphones used to detect gunshots (Score:4, Funny)
I wonder how hard it would be to come up with a player device to simulate gunshots?
Would be interesting to have a few friends in different parts of the city...some maybe across the st. from each other, and fire out gunshot sounds. Heck, make it interesting...mix up the reports, like a few 357 magnums, maybe a 50 cal Desert Eagle, some shotguns...for real fun, get one full auto here and there.
I can't imagine at this point, there is a law against playing gunshot 'sounds'....
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But if you could do it, go all out: make it play machine guns and explosions like it's a battlefield. Then watch the National Guard deploy, since that's too much for the SWAT team to handle.
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What good is having CCTV and microphones when the punishment does not fit the crime?
A friend of mine was attacked in a pub for spilling someone else's pint of beer. Despite apologising, he was punched in the face and had to go to hospital, where he received numerous stitches.
Upset about the whole event he sued his assailant - the outcome: No fine, no social work, but simply a Warning.
How is this going to deter anyone? Who cares about being filmed and convicted of some crime or another, if there is no pro
The police and courts aren't doing their jobs (Score:2)
So... If the police and courts aren't doing the job, who will?
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and the americans say "go to THE hospital"?
Why don't the brits use an article there?
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Hey, it's their language...
Do you "go to bed", or "go to THE bed"? "Go to hell", or "go to THE hell?" etc.
As a counter argument, why do (some) Americans say "I'm going to the mall; you want to go with?" Go with what, bells on?
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I got so pissed off from these that I have answered "No, despite your best efforts, I am not dead yet, and I have not sorted myself out, so you can forget the idea of removing me off that waiting list". Got an letter boiling of righteous indignation in return and had an
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Nice eh?
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If not that is really scary.
If it is, my joke detector needs calibrating.
-nB
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Consider me scared.
-nB
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Remember, we must give up the freedoms we are fighting for so we can defeat the terrorists who want to take those freedoms away!
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"The first amendment, the second amendment, the third amendment, the fourth amendment
Brooklyn, New York (Score:2, Informative)
NEW YORK - Along a gritty stretch of street in Brooklyn, police this month quietly launched an ambitious plan to combat street crime and terrorism.
But instead of cops on the beat, wireless video cameras peer down from lamp posts about 30 feet above the sidewalk.
They were the first installment of a program to place 500 cameras throughout the city at a cost of $9 million. Hundreds of additional cameras could follow if the city receives $81.5 million in federal grants it has requested to safeguard Lower
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Finally! (Score:5, Funny)
A way of identifying all those people who soil themselves!
I believe it's safe to say that using someone's gait to determine their relative guilt/innocence, ranks right up there with dumping a woman in a river to see if she's a witch.
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Re:Finally! (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Finally! (Score:5, Funny)
I wonder how they'll classify me, given that I have an irrational aversion to stepping on cracks (which means I often don't have a regular pace.) Probably 'loser geek' but I might get 'hiding something: investigate!'
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Its time for another visit to the Ministry of Funny Walks (or whatever that old Monty Python sketch was).
Re:Finally! (Score:5, Funny)
In fact, I can think of a number of amusing things this could watch for: The 'ol Toilet Twostep, the Hemroid Hobble, the Slow-Up-Your-Walk-to-Stay-Behind-the-Chick-with-t
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The article is right. At best, high-tech CCTV has been used to identify people after the fact, in some cases but has done not
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Don't worry, I'm sure jolly 'ol England is well on the way to eliminating that step entirely, saving you, the citizen, much wasted time!
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No no, not citizen, subject. England has no constitution, only a queen.
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FTB (Blog):
FTS (inaccurate and/or misleading):
You're misinterpreting wh
Two technologies, shouldn't be confused. (Score:2)
The "gait recognition" is fairly new, and I'd agree it's a tad creepy.
However, the non-moving-object detection isn't that new, and is a pretty good idea IMO. It's one of the things that actually makes cameras effective rather than just a tool to help the police sort out what the hell happened after a crime or act of terrorism has already been committed.
Basically, you can t
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I believe it's safe to say that using someone's gait to determine their relative guilt/innocence, ranks right up there with dumping a woman in a river to see if she's a witch.
You forgot the most useful aspect of this tech. To determine which couples just finished getting busy by how they walk!
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The last thing you want to do! (Score:2, Funny)
Don't give them ideas.
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I say, in addition to RFID stuff, all forms of ID have to have a miniature microphone and camera attached, and a small bit of storage(a flash card?), and a transmitter. At regular times, the card will spit out any information it's collected to receivers.
It would of course, be mandatory to display your card on the front of any clothing you're wearing, much like many checkout people have to wear(Hi! My name is
Re:The last thing you want to do! (Score:5, Insightful)
A capital idea, my good fellow! Perhaps we can even snaz it up a little to make it not so drab. I'm partial to yellow myself. And give them funny shapes? I've always liked that one old western sheriffs wore...
More interested in those that don't walk (Score:4, Interesting)
I've seen a conference paper based upon the insight this scheme provided. The conclusion? CCTV operators are presently trained to concentrate on those people that aren't moving; standing still is regarded as suspicious.
I don't know what impact this new technology will have on this practice.
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Fascinating. In that case, if I ever need to set off a dirty-pipes bomb in central London, I will be sure to continue walking as I reach for the little red PTM switch.
Am I paranoid for seriously considering the implications of posting such a sentence? Or is it just another result of the totalitarian shithole that this country has become?
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(I love DNS lookup...)
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(Cardiff just doesn't come up in conversation too often, gotta go with what I know)
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There goes the secrecy (Score:2, Funny)
Microphones are already in place, thank you. (Score:3, Interesting)
Why not go the whole hog and have microphones attached to cameras or embedded in street lights?'"
Why go through that kind of expense when cell phones can already be used that way? Cell phones are always in hearing range and can be programmed to be on when they look off. The cameras would increase coverage, but again private "security cameras" will do the job in all the places people care about if access is granted by law to government. Soon enough, people will want cameras in their "smart" houses to turn on and off lights and listen for commands. As long as non free software is used for this, the coverage will be complete.
Quiet, casual voice, "We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness."
Love,
Big Brother
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Unfortunately I think that's the direction it's headed; Treach^H^H^H^H Trusted Computing will lead to Trusted Phones with the same TC "security" features, because without a
Re:Microphones are already in place, thank you. (Score:4, Insightful)
It's only a bad idea if there is a helm. If there's a camera in every room, if everyone can be watched at any time, and if anyone can tune in to any camera at will, that would be fair. If, however, there's a class of bosses who can watch anyone they please, while not being watched themselves, then you have tyranny.
History learned (Score:2)
Whole hog would be more along the lines of drawing from a page in hitler's book, where we train our children to turn us in as soon as we bitch about the current administration...
"Yes, Lead Teacher, that's right - my Father said the Prime Minister has lemons for testicles and pees sitting down."
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Oh man, you think our prisons are crowded now.
I'll let V say it for me. (Score:5, Insightful)
why not just put it on BBC? (Score:2)
Please pay your video tax promptly, thank you.
May not be a bad thing (Score:4, Informative)
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Ah, so next time you stop for a pee in the bushes, better make it quick before you're charged with public indecency.
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More costs, no gauranteed benfit (Score:5, Insightful)
And what about if the system doesn't provide the expected benefits? When was the last time a huge security program was dismantled when shown to not deliver what was promised, or even evaluated for success? (programs like Carnivore and Total Information Awareness continue on in other guises even now) Too often there are earmarks, kickbacks (monetary and political) and whatnot tied into the whole process so supporters are even less likely to admit failure when a program is still personally lucrative in some way. None of the funding for these mass surveilance and automated security measures seem to have any sort of merit-based budgeting built in. It ends up being a huge political fight to close useless programs, meanwhile the costs - monetary and liberty - continue to pile up, restricting freedoms and draining our public coffers (or in the case of the US continuing to pile onto a mountain of debt that cannot possibly be repaid without massive negative consequences). Our representatives in government need to be held accountable to hold these programs accountable! There need to be provisions, milestones, evaluations and hard-set sunset clauses that force these programs to deliver or die. And there needs to be more scepticism upfront with regard to the promised benefits that have little to no factual backing, and more than that, the coefficient placed in front of the value of infractions of liberty needs to be increased! The practice of implementing Security Theater programs with no accountability to success has got to stop. We're stepping on freedoms and spending like a drunk with no proven returns, how is that good public policy?
Going too far? (Score:3, Insightful)
Sometimes the most simple things can bring to a halt the most complex of systems. No need for anything dangerous, society will bankrupt itself trying to oversee and purify itself.
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People have already shut down [msn.com] sheep-cities by leaving harmless, if not offensive, marketing collateral around.
Right now, I have a hard time believing that TerroristsTM have any significant interest in attacking the mainland United States or Britain. What would be the point? They've already proven they can do it and worried the public and governments to the point that our freedoms are being eroded daily.
Right now it might 'only' be video cameras. Soon it could be a McCarthy-style witch hunt seeking ou
Re:Going too far? (Score:4, Funny)
No more random walks (Score:3, Insightful)
Get used to it. The technology is only going to get smarter, and eventually the street lights will know where you are going and change accordingly. When you deviate it will issue and alert and require you to file a report.
I personally have no problem being watched as long as I can watch back. It would be interesting to know where the politicians are at 2 AM.
whole hog (Score:3, Insightful)
All the joking aside... (Score:3, Interesting)
I've long realized that I recognize people I know well from a _distance_ more by how they move than by the shape of their face or other more 'normal' visual cues. It probably comes from evolving in an area where predators moved differently from prey.
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Useless in a year (Score:2)
By this time next year the people operating the equipment will be reassigned and whatever data is collected will be shunted to
But it will appear on Slashdot again and again.
Thought crime (Score:5, Insightful)
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I just read an article about a guy who wrote in a blog that he was "thinking of" going to visit some friends in California. He happened to be conversing with an undercover officer in California who was posing as a 14 year old. It was specifically mentioned that he had never stated his intention to meet this person, nor had there been any sort of sexual communication of any kind.
He was arrested for "intent" to cross state lines to meet a minor for the purpose of sex.
It no l
This isn't silly (Score:2)
Thank God! Another fine technological breakthrough!
I should just turn myself in (Score:3, Interesting)
This is one reason I'm sure I'll never fly, I'd be way freaked out at an airport.
Oh well, if this ever comes to the states I guess I can become a complete hermit.
My undergraduate project used similar idea.. (Score:2)
I never thought the govt would be so crazy to implement such an idea on large scale, except that it would be an interesting project for geeks.
God Emperor of Dune (Score:2)
Majority of civilizations are based on cowardice. They can easily evolve by teaching cowardice. They need to lower those standards, that develop courage, manliness. They limit the free will. They regulate the appetites. They limit the horizons. Every step within them must be predetermined by the law. They deny the existance of chaos. They teach the children to breath quietly. They tame.
Outstanding... (Score:2)
It has long been known that certain racial and ethnic groups have a certain gait, as a matter of simple conformance with their culture. It shouldn't surprise anyone that a child grows up imitating their parents, including their manner of walking.
So, by teaching computers to recognize a person's gait, and single out people based on their gait, we have, in essence, taught computers to give greater scrutiny to individuals of a particular ethnic or racial group.
In other words, we've programmed computers
Novel defense for public drunkenness (Score:2)
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Gaitcrime! (Score:5, Insightful)
Not terrorism, facecrime... Or in this case, gaitcrime.
Of for god's sake grow up - I worked briefon gait. (Score:3, Interesting)
You then measure the gait of an individual comitting a crime (in the case where footage does not reveal the face clearly) and use it, fingerprint like, to identify suspects.
This is not 1984. This is not big brother.
What IS big brother like is the proliferation of cameras, regar
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Well, I would link to it, but you can be disappeared now for possession of terrorist training materials, so that probably wouldn't be the wisest move...
Perhaps the Lords' chamber is more fitting (Score:2)
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I have an epistemological question. How do the security officials in your fantasy know that the people they are looking for are criminals or terrorists?
In your fantasy, have they been convicted by due process in any open and public court of law, in which they have been allowed to see and answer the evidence against them and question witnesses against them and show evidence a
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If you assume every move made by any known perp is for the commission of yet another crime -- anyone with so much as a speeding ticket is in trouble, because every time you get in your car, it will be assumed that you intend to speed again!!
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OK, and let's say the technology is just fabulously better than it seems like it will ever get, and matches people correctly 99.99% of the time. Using such a fictionally wonderful system to search for your proposed 10,000 profiles of criminals/terrorists,
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Does the assertion sum all types of crime?
No only the sum of all fears.
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I'm sure someone who's been violently mugged or raped will be really happy to know that the police caught them afterwards.
How about we go back to the way the police used to work, where they patrolled the streets and deterred or stopped crime in the first place? We don't even need to wonder whether that would be 'helpful in stopping crime', because we already know that crime rates were much lower when the pol
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Or maybe you should go back to the way society used to work, where people were allowed to defend themselves against attackers and criminals, and were even allowed to carry weapons around for this purpose?
Unfortunately, today in the UK, you'll be prosecuted for attempting to defend yourself in any way against a criminal, especially if you hurt him, or even just threaten h
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If the crime keeps happening at the same rate, how can you possibly justify the expense of the system?
Suppose the cameras and the prosecution bear out 100% capture and conviction rate
What have the cameras bought you in terms of security, if you're still just as likely to be mugged walking down the street?
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If the crime rate goes down when cameras are installed, the sales pitch will be "cameras reduce crime". If it goes up, the pitch will be "more cameras are needed to combat rising crime".
The expense will not be an issue, so long as it is only a small proportion of the money raised by taxes for other things. And if anyone ra
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It's just waiting for someone to build it, a politician to buy it, and a population to accept it.
Oh, wait, I can do this...
Build: Someone is probably already building it, because...
Buy: There's always a politician who will arrange to purchase this to gain brownie points with his constituents. Probable arguments include "Think of the children", "Stop terrorism", and "Find that bastard who stole your wallet"
Accept: Irrelevant. People are sheep. Feed them one of the above arguments, and a majority