Posted on 09/14/2022 6:54:10 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Major cities across the US are introducing smart streetlights with the promise they'll provide safer and more sustainable public spaces. But behind the scenes, the technology is being appropriated as an instrument of surveillance within a larger network of smart sensors.
“This is not a surveillance system—nobody is watching it 24 hours a day,” said Erik Caldwell, director of economic development in San Diego, in an interview where he was asked if the wide deployment of “smart” streetlights had turned San Diego into a surveillance city. Innocuous at first glance, this statement demonstrates the pernicious impact of artificial intelligence on new “smart” streetlight systems. As Caldwell suggests, a central human vision is important for the streetlight to function as a surveillance instrument. However, the lack of human supervision only suggests its enhanced capacity. Smart sensors are able to process and communicate environmental information that does not present itself in a visual format and does not rely on human interpretation. On the one hand, they reinforce streetlights’ function as a surveillance instrument, historically associated with light and visibility. On the other hand, in tandem with a wide range of sensors embedded in our everyday environment, they also enable for-profit data extraction on a vast scale, under the auspices of a partnership between local governments and tech corporations.
The streetlight was originally designed as a surveillance device and has been refined to that end ever since then. Its association with surveillance and security can be found as early as 400 BC. Citizens of Ancient Rome started to install an oil lamp in front of every villa to prevent tripping or thefts, and an enslaved person would be designated to watch the lamp—lighting was already paired with the notion of control through slavery...
(Excerpt) Read more at failedarchitecture.com ...
I’d prefer they just set up more LED street lights given how economical they are.
It doesn’t have to be watched.
If all the data are logged, things can be reviewed later.
“no one is watching it 24 hours a day” is because they have machine learning and artificial intelligence to watch it, and then record and alert when events occur.
You would not believe what is possible these days with cameras, lights, motion detection, recording events, and alerting.
You know the traffic cameras you see on the road? You THINK they are not able to determine your speed but i know from first hand experience of being trained to install and configure them that they can. They can also record your license plate number from 2 miles away because they are such high resolution now. MOREOVER, they are capable of facial recognition. At 2 miles.
They can also determine your speed by setting zones of recognition within their view. Its just a question of timing to determine how fast you are going from one line to another line.
The AI\ML in the cameras can also watch movement patterns, and if properly equipped, capture cellphone pings.
All of this is configurable. All of this can be recorded. All of it can be put into an archive with tagged metadata so that it could possibly be used against you in the future.
look at the offerings from companies like Miovision, Bosch, etc.
They have us right where they want us.
Won’t be long before we’ll have to have a license plate on top of our cars.
Looking at the entire panoply of things that government (all levels) is doing, I think government is getting uncomfortably intrusive.
The mercury vapor lamp in front of my house ran off a light sensitive switch for years. Now, it is an LED lamp. The light intensity is actually better than the mercury vapor lamp that it replaced. I curse it in August when it washes out my view of the Perseid meteor shower.
They watch only when motion detection triggers.
The analytics in WAVE by Hanwha are down right spooky.
L
I go on early morning walks around the time the sun comes up. A recently renovated elementary school installed LED lights in the parking lot. I happened to walk through the parking lot and all the lights kicked up to a higher lumen level when I passed nearby. The lights should have been off since it was daylight. Sloppy design goes to the low bidder.
“I’d prefer they just set up more LED street lights given how economical they are.”
I agree, and with the brightness that is best for my surveillance cameras.
My dad's favorite observation for NASA astronauts: We're on the way to the moon on the product of 120 low bidders.
A few years ago an adjacent city put up bid for a 2 mile stretch of road for replacement. The high bid was ~$10M and the low bid was ~$5M. The city went with the low bid contractor and the new road started to fail before the repairs were even completed. The top soil was bad in areas and the low bid firm didn’t have the expertise to analyze the soil conditions..
That’s a software function, not hardware. I have some combo security lights that include a camera. They can be set to record but not turn the lights on until the intruder reaches a certain range, and that’s just with the factory consumer software. I have seen and used others that record all the time and can trigger the lights totally separately.
Ditto. A city council likely hires consultants to advise on complex projects. If there is a problem, it quickly goes down the memory hole.
With EV's they won't need license plates. The computers will track everything and everyone all the time.
I know that. Their network will implement it.
I visit NextDoor.com and see the postings in my area.
Quite a lot of crime now. Today a post was about Somerset Village apts above the 118 freeway next to Porter Ranch (most expensive area with Beverly Hills 2nd).
A lady has one recording after another showing criminals trying to open car doors, stealing tools or anything. Police have come , arrests made but the crooks continue to show up.
The crooks are released right away is why.
One resident remarked that the homes nearby are $3 to $6 million dollar homes!!
This use to be an area where tv westerns were filmed. I use to ride my bike up there when the homes were being built some 25 and 30 years ago.
All the surveillance cameras and streetlights will not help if you have democrats party members support the criminals over honest people.
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