Amazon Pushes Facial Recognition Tech out to Law Enforcement

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
Staff member
Joined
May 18, 1997
Messages
55,510
Mass surveillance and identification is on its way somewhere near to you soon in the form of Amazon Rekognition. We already know that there are cameras hung on the corner of every building and street post throughout the world. Amazon Rekognition gives law enforcement to take that visual data and match it up to the individual in question. Surely there are some great benefits when utilized in hunting down those responsible for crimes, but we all know that is a slippery slope. The New York Times has an article on this that is worth a read. (Archive here.)


Not long after, it began pitching the technology to law enforcement agencies, saying the program could aid criminal investigations by recognizing suspects in photos and videos. It used a couple of early customers, like the Orlando Police Department in Florida and the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in Oregon, to encourage other officials to sign up.
 
well I haven't done anything (that I was actually accused of) to be wanted.. so I'm fine with it.. hah... although, many times I'm told I look like someone they know, so when I get tackled to the ground with my hot coffee in the morning, and people start throwing the video on FB/YouTube/Instagram... Ill most likely change my mind..
 
Can't wait til they start ticketing you for j-walking. It would be a huge revenue stream for a lot of states. They start enforcing all the bs laws on the books and fine every one a small amount for each infraction. It is going to low enough that people won't whine too much cause it would be cleaning up the cities in government propaganda.
 
well I haven't done anything (that I was actually accused of) to be wanted.. so I'm fine with it.. hah... although, many times I'm told I look like someone they know, so when I get tackled to the ground with my hot coffee in the morning, and people start throwing the video on FB/YouTube/Instagram... Ill most likely change my mind..

Police have executed raids on the wrong home, involving an innocent third party. They should wait a while on visual data like this, IMO. Yes it won't make the news when they use the right address and a botched raid in Mississippi is separate from Boston police, but it is cause for concern and address matched to the house or whatever structure is low tech.
 
Can't wait til they start ticketing you for j-walking. It would be a huge revenue stream for a lot of states. They start enforcing all the bs laws on the books and fine every one a small amount for each infraction. It is going to low enough that people won't whine too much cause it would be cleaning up the cities in government propaganda.

well in my area (NJ tristate), we have ez-pass for tolls.. and my bro in law does traffic lights, etc and we went out on a job on the highway. He needed pics for his new website, so I grabbed a mess... there are so many "ez-pass" readers on the opposite side, where people cant see them. They are not for toll collection, but instead for "Data" gathering. What days are the busiest, what holidays, etc... average speed,... that is how they get the signs that tell you x minutes to exit x...

all they gotta do is turn that on and say... tickets coming in the mail now for speeders...
 
well in my area (NJ tristate), we have ez-pass for tolls.. and my bro in law does traffic lights, etc and we went out on a job on the highway. He needed pics for his new website, so I grabbed a mess... there are so many "ez-pass" readers on the opposite side, where people cant see them. They are not for toll collection, but instead for "Data" gathering. What days are the busiest, what holidays, etc... average speed,... that is how they get the signs that tell you x minutes to exit x...

all they gotta do is turn that on and say... tickets coming in the mail now for speeders...

If someone is driving on a bus-only lane I would like that license plate scanned and the ticket processed. I have seen traffic officers directing traffic that couldn't do anything about it, unfortunately. They were helping parking garages clear out faster. Or they will stop the bad driver and force them to u-turn around into the direction they're supposed to be in, but I don't know if they got a ticket.
I was watching from a bus stop.
 
Personally, I don't really find this to be a slippery slope... and I definitely take out the tinfoil hat every so often in regards to trusting government.

If you don't want to be identified, don't go out in public. Seems pretty straight forward, no? I mean the main difference is that instead of looking at a convincted criminal's mug-shot and hoping that you randomly run into them vs. potential cameras that can do the looking for you - I don't really see the problem. Especially if it's connected to a database of convicted criminals that need to be arrested.

I guess what I'm saying is - a cop can look at a car, run their license plate - and from there they can lookup if that person has a record, is it a stolen car, etc... Why not automate that so that the cop car always has a camera that can read license plates and run them continuously automatically non-stop instead of the cop having to do so manually over and over? Which you have to admit, that doesn't happen.They only run plates if they have a suspicion.
 
Wonder if this is what they're going to use in their self-check no-cashier stores.
 
The onus will be on the "suspect" to prove how their shit doesn't work when people start being wrongly identified and charged.
 
On one hand I understand that one can have no expectation of privacy while in public, but on the other hand I wonder what Amazon's endgame is here. Maybe they want to follow people around so that they can do a better job targeting them with ads for stuff they buy often. Doesn't sound too bad until you think about the kind of profile they could build on you with that kind of information. Could such a profile end up as evidence in a civil case (say like a divorce) or even worse, in a criminal prosecution? The implications are a bit scary.
 
Wonder if they sell to governments that have shitty human rights laws so they can keep the citizens in check.
 
It's possible this could be more harmful than good. A few years back the town I live in added cameras to all the traffic lights. Started ticketing people who ran them, etc. People started panicking and to avoid a possible ticket they would slam on their brakes on yellow lights causing a lot of wrecks. They eventually got rid of the cameras because they created more wrecks and danger than they helped.
 
On one hand I understand that one can have no expectation of privacy while in public, but on the other hand I wonder what Amazon's endgame is here. Maybe they want to follow people around so that they can do a better job targeting them with ads for stuff they buy often. Doesn't sound too bad until you think about the kind of profile they could build on you with that kind of information. Could such a profile end up as evidence in a civil case (say like a divorce) or even worse, in a criminal prosecution? The implications are a bit scary.
It won't be the evidence, it will be the lack of evidence. Most instances of a person being railroaded are fought by the person being able to produce an alibi for some aspect of the prosecution's timeline. Now the police or prosecutor can craft a timeline likely absent of your ability to produce an alibi.
 
On one hand I understand that one can have no expectation of privacy while in public, but on the other hand I wonder what Amazon's endgame is here. Maybe they want to follow people around so that they can do a better job targeting them with ads for stuff they buy often. Doesn't sound too bad until you think about the kind of profile they could build on you with that kind of information. Could such a profile end up as evidence in a civil case (say like a divorce) or even worse, in a criminal prosecution? The implications are a bit scary.

Won't Google, Apple, Verizon, Comcast, etc. all give up that data ASAP? To track someone's location.

Visual matches on camera while NOT carrying a mobile device will probably be a red flag to law enforcement. "Obstruction!"
 
The onus will be on the "suspect" to prove how their shit doesn't work when people start being wrongly identified and charged.

Yep. A friend of mine got a couple of camera tickets up in Northern California while he was vacationing in Hawaii. Said it was a pain to get them cleared. The cars in the pictures weren't even the same kind of car he drives.
 
well in my area (NJ tristate), we have ez-pass for tolls.. and my bro in law does traffic lights, etc and we went out on a job on the highway. He needed pics for his new website, so I grabbed a mess... there are so many "ez-pass" readers on the opposite side, where people cant see them. They are not for toll collection, but instead for "Data" gathering. What days are the busiest, what holidays, etc... average speed,... that is how they get the signs that tell you x minutes to exit x...

all they gotta do is turn that on and say... tickets coming in the mail now for speeders...


That's when you get a little faraday cage pouch and put the pass inside after scanning to enter the toll road.
 
Can't wait til they start ticketing you for j-walking. It would be a huge revenue stream for a lot of states. They start enforcing all the bs laws on the books and fine every one a small amount for each infraction. It is going to low enough that people won't whine too much cause it would be cleaning up the cities in government propaganda.

Not here in California.

They will keep all the court and other fees that make a $40 ticket end up costing over $200.
Except if you are poor or illegal, then the court will wave the fees and maybe even the fine.
If you are a middle class working stiff, you out of luck. Even if it means you won't even be able to even afford Ramen for dinner.
 
If you don't want to be identified, don't go out in public.

I guess what I'm saying is - a cop can look at a car, run their license plate - and from there they can lookup if that person has a record, is it a stolen car, etc... Why not automate that so that the cop car always has a camera that can read license plates and run them continuously automatically non-stop instead of the cop having to do so manually over and over? Which you have to admit, that doesn't happen.They only run plates if they have a suspicion.

Actually, many city police departments already have license plate readers, just not in all cars.

They can drive down the street or though a parking lot and read all the license plates.
They then lookup the info on the car, to see if it's stolen, or if it doesn't have a current registration.

Not going out in Public so you can avoid identification? Good luck with that.
I expect the criminals will avoid detection by wearing large sun glasses, having their hair hang into their faces, or just wearing some kind of mask or makeup.
 
Wouldn't facial recognition be considered personal identifiable information that, under the EU's new GDPR law would mean people have the right to require it's removal? :cool:
 
Actually, many city police departments already have license plate readers, just not in all cars.

They can drive down the street or though a parking lot and read all the license plates.
They then lookup the info on the car, to see if it's stolen, or if it doesn't have a current registration.

Not going out in Public so you can avoid identification? Good luck with that.
I expect the criminals will avoid detection by wearing large sun glasses, having their hair hang into their faces, or just wearing some kind of mask or makeup.

You're forgetting, criminals are stupid.... Well - at least the ones that do the crimes mentioned in the news every evening.

The ones that aren't stupid aren't doing it with guns.
 
Personally, I don't really find this to be a slippery slope... and I definitely take out the tinfoil hat every so often in regards to trusting government.

If you don't want to be identified, don't go out in public. Seems pretty straight forward, no? I mean the main difference is that instead of looking at a convincted criminal's mug-shot and hoping that you randomly run into them vs. potential cameras that can do the looking for you - I don't really see the problem. Especially if it's connected to a database of convicted criminals that need to be arrested.

I guess what I'm saying is - a cop can look at a car, run their license plate - and from there they can lookup if that person has a record, is it a stolen car, etc... Why not automate that so that the cop car always has a camera that can read license plates and run them continuously automatically non-stop instead of the cop having to do so manually over and over? Which you have to admit, that doesn't happen.They only run plates if they have a suspicion.

So your suggestion to avoid this is to become a hermit and never come out of your house because they have camera's watching you? Sounds like you do have a problem with it you just don't want to admit it.
I know I have an issue with it, since everyone breaks a minuscule law that's on the books everyday. This is the very meaning of oppression......You must tow the line the exact way THEY want you to or you get picked up for it and you can be picked up at the store while buying diapers for your kid because the cameras they have installed ID'ed your face walking in the parking lot.
Yes it is good for finding some serious offenders but its ripe for abuse at the lowest level.
 
If it helps me get a goos job I'm onboard.

(Interviewer) after pilfering your data we have determined you..... Are a good boy.
 
Can't wait til they start ticketing you for j-walking. It would be a huge revenue stream for a lot of states. They start enforcing all the bs laws on the books and fine every one a small amount for each infraction. It is going to low enough that people won't whine too much cause it would be cleaning up the cities in government propaganda.
Nearly 30 years ago when I was in HS our town had a strip everyone cruised on Friday nights. Friend of mine back then told me how he'd been ticketed for crossing the street. LOL and WTH!
 
I see quite a few good applications for this that aren't being mentioned. The ability to automate certain security and safety functions beyond just facial recognition could be huge. The system could detect armed robberies in convenience stores without any action by employees or using facial recognition. Health and safety events in sparsely populated public locations: hiking trails, parking lots/garages, waterways. The amount of processing power to track everyone city wide would be hugely expensive and likely relegated to watchlists and/or limited risky environments. The possibility of near real-time alert systems for emergencies could be significant without even considering use as an evidence trail or complex tracking.
 
yep. tbh let's just make all the government's jobs super easy, and live in caged cells 24/7. Sure, we won't have any of the rights or freedoms that make life worth living but think of the upside:
No crime!

If you don't want to be identified, don't go out in public. Seems pretty straight forward, no?

you should try thinking before you speak
 
Woe to you, Oh Earth and Sea
For the Devil sends the beast with wrath
Because he knows the time is short
Let him who hath understanding reckon the number of the beast
For it is not a human number
Its number is x86.
 
well I haven't done anything (that I was actually accused of) to be wanted.. so I'm fine with it.. hah... although, many times I'm told I look like someone they know, so when I get tackled to the ground with my hot coffee in the morning, and people start throwing the video on FB/YouTube/Instagram... Ill most likely change my mind..

This absolutely awful apathetic stance is exactly how the Nazi's came into power in germany. I would say you should honestly be ashamed of yourself for caring that little about freedom, but I feel it would just be wasted on deaf ears.
 
Hmmm More of Jeff Bozo's authoritarian state bull shite.
 
Last edited:
This absolutely awful apathetic stance is exactly how the Nazi's came into power in germany. I would say you should honestly be ashamed of yourself for caring that little about freedom, but I feel it would just be wasted on deaf ears.

Millions of people are actively protesting that the govt. take their fundamental freedoms daily now. I've never seen such concentrated retardation in my life and I'm 37.
 
Personally, I don't really find this to be a slippery slope... and I definitely take out the tinfoil hat every so often in regards to trusting government.

If you don't want to be identified, don't go out in public. Seems pretty straight forward, no? I mean the main difference is that instead of looking at a convincted criminal's mug-shot and hoping that you randomly run into them vs. potential cameras that can do the looking for you - I don't really see the problem. Especially if it's connected to a database of convicted criminals that need to be arrested.

I guess what I'm saying is - a cop can look at a car, run their license plate - and from there they can lookup if that person has a record, is it a stolen car, etc... Why not automate that so that the cop car always has a camera that can read license plates and run them continuously automatically non-stop instead of the cop having to do so manually over and over? Which you have to admit, that doesn't happen.They only run plates if they have a suspicion.


Yeah, we're definitely headed for a complete surveillance state/post-apocalyptic shitter.
 
yep. tbh let's just make all the government's jobs super easy, and live in caged cells 24/7. Sure, we won't have any of the rights or freedoms that make life worth living but think of the upside:
No crime!
Come on, those government jobs will be automated just like everything else. Leaving the police robots to keep us inline.
 
Back
Top