City Council Votes to Accept Controversial LAPD Robot Dog

Not what I expected,  but very much needed,    but how long will it last?

City Council Votes to Accept Controversial LAPD Robot Dog

Los Angeles Times

Brittny Mejia; Libor Jany; David Zahniser, May 23, 2023

The Los Angeles City Council voted to accept the donation of almost $280,000 from the Los Angeles Police Foundation to fund the purchase of a robot dog for use by the Los Angeles Police Department. The department will be required to issue quarterly reports detailing where and why the device was deployed, the outcome of each deployment, and whether any issues occurred. The 70-pound robot dog, called Spot, can climb stairs, open doors, and navigate difficult terrain. Spot is controlled via a tablet-like device, features 360-degree cameras to record its surroundings, and transmits real-time data to officers. The department said the robot would be used only in situations involving the SWAT team and to keep officers out of harm's way.

Full Article   

Digi Dogs back in NYC

I had mentioned that the 'DigiDogs robotic police had been rejected by big city police.   Now they are being brought back in.

ACM NEWS

'Digidog Is Out of the Pound': Robot Dog Rejoins New York Police    By Bloomberg

April 12, 2023

New NYPD policing technology, including "Digi Dog"and a K5 Autonomous Security Robot.

The city's first robot police dog was leased in 2020 by Adams' predecessor, former Mayor Bill de Blasio, but the city's contract for the device was cut short after critics derided it as creepy and dystopian.

New York City officials unveiled three new high-tech policing devices Tuesday, including a robotic dog that critics called creepy when it first joined the police pack 2 1/2 years ago.

The new devices, which also include a GPS tracker for stolen cars and a cone-shaped security robot, will be rolled out in a manner that is "transparent, consistent and always done in close collaboration with the people we serve," said police Commissioner Keechant Sewell, who joined Mayor Eric Adams and other officials at a Times Square press conference where the security robot and the mechanical canine nicknamed Digidog were displayed.

"Digidog is out of the pound," said Adams, a Democrat and former police officer. "Digidog is now part of the toolkit that we are using."

From Bloomberg

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Will a Spot Robot Make LA Safer?

No, and it won't even get the chance to.  See SF's attempt to do something similar. 

See Spot Spy? New Generation of Police Robots Faces Backlash

Los Angeles Times, Libor Jan; Gregory Yee,  December 21, 2022

Critics are eyeing the deployment of more sophisticated robots by U.S. police forces with suspicion, fearing their use for surveillance and potential threat to privacy and safety. For example, the Los Angeles Police Department intends to purchase a Spot robot from manufacturer Boston Dynamics to reportedly gather information in a "narrow set" of hazardous circumstances. This provoked opposition, as did recent attempts by San Francisco police to deploy weaponized robots in certain scenarios. The University of South Carolina's Geoff Alpert said the core issue is not whether police should use robots, but how police overseers should craft policies to guide their use. The University of California, Davis' Elizabeth Joh said local officials' "piecemeal efforts" to rein in police use of robots have mostly failed to keep pace with the technology's evolution, citing "increasing reliance by police on machine-made decisions."

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Police Tap COVID-19 Tech to Expand Global Surveillance

Tracking of many kinds interacting. 

Police Tap COVID-19 Tech to Expand Global Surveillance

By Associated Press, December 27, 2022

A worshiper in the Old City of Jerusalem holds a mobile phone showing a message saying he's been tracked by Israeli intelligence.

Police forces worldwide are tapping technologies developed for coronavirus contact tracing for mass surveillance.

China, for example, requires citizens to install cellphone applications to move about freely in most cities as part of its COVID policy. The apps use telecommunications data and polymerase chain reaction test results to generate individual quick response codes that change hue based on a person's health status, but evidence suggests these and other health codes have been used to suppress dissent.

"What COVID did was accelerate state use of these tools and that data and normalize it, so it fit a narrative about there being a public benefit," says John Scott-Railton, a researcher at Canada-based Internet watchdog Citizen Lab. "Now the question is, are we going to be capable of having a reckoning around the use of this data, or is this the new normal?"

From Associated Press

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How China's Police Used Phones, Faces to Track Protesters

 China Policing

How China's Police Used Phones, Faces to Track Protesters

The New York Times

Paul Mozur; Claire Fu; Amy Chang Chien, December 2, 2022

China's police used an advanced surveillance system to track protesters who rallied against the government's pandemic policies this past week. The system enables authorities to target, detain, and intimidate protest organizers and vocal dissidents. Its tools include millions of cameras, facial recognition software programmed to identify local citizens, phone monitors, and data- and image-crunching applications. The phone trackers connect to and record data on the phones of passersby for police to review. Many protesters said they now avoid using virtual private networks or other foreign apps like Telegram and Signal out of fear their phones' software might be more closely monitored.  ... '

NYPD Joins Ring Neighborhood

Great idea if well managed.  Support it.   

 NYPD is joining Ring's neighborhood watch app amid privacy and racial profiling concerns   In Engadget

It's one of the largest police departments yet to join Neighbors.  

One of the most recognizable police forces is joining Ring's Neighbors app. The New York Police Department has announced that it will participate in Ring's neighborhood watch tool. Officers won't look for posts "around the clock," but they will respond to users' crime and safety concerns, post notices and ask for help with "active police matters."

The move potentially gives the NYPD another way to interact with the community. It may also obtain footage of criminal activity that it wouldn't otherwise have, with maps and timelines that could help pinpoint crime sprees and trends.

There's already opposition to the NYPD's participation, however. The New York-based Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (STOP) is concerned support for Neighbors will lead to more police violence, racial profiling and vigilantes. The technology "isn't keeping people safe" and even puts people in danger, Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn claims. He cites an incident in October where a father and son shot at a woman in response to a Ring doorbell notification. The woman delivered a package sent to the wrong address.  .... ' 

Schneier Writes on Ring Doorbell and Police

Needs more caution on use, but am all for automating home protection. 

Ring Gives Videos to Police without a Warrant or User Consent  in Bruce Schneier

Amazon has revealed that it gives police videos from its Ring doorbells without a warrant and without user consent.

Ring recently revealed how often the answer to that question has been yes. The Amazon company responded to an inquiry from US Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.), confirming that there have been 11 cases in 2022 where Ring complied with police “emergency” requests. In each case, Ring handed over private recordings, including video and audio, without letting users know that police had access to—and potentially downloaded—their data. This raises many concerns about increased police reliance on private surveillance, a practice that has long gone unregulated.  .... '   With further comment at link.

Amazon's Ring Will Ask Police to Publicly Request User Videos

Making things as hard for police as you can. 

Amazon's Ring Will Ask Police to Publicly Request User Videos

By Bloomberg,  June 7, 2021

Starting this week, law enforcement agencies seeking videos from Ring Internet-connected doorbells will be required to submit a Request for Assistance post to Ring's Neighbors app/portal.

Amazon subsidiary and Internet-connected doorbell maker Ring said police departments that require help in investigations must publicly request home security video from doorbells and cameras.

Law enforcement agencies now must post such Requests for Assistance on Neighbors, Ring's video-sharing and safety-related community discussion portal; nearby users with potentially helpful videos can click a link within the post and select which videos they wish to submit.

Ring, which has been accused of having a too-cozy relationship with law enforcement, explained on its blog that it has been working with independent third-party experts to help give people greater insight into law enforcement's use of its technology.

From Bloomberg

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Expansion of Amazon Ring Network

The Verge reports on the considerable linking of Ring devices with police and fire departments.  Have had one installed since they emerged.    As usual the privacy fanatics assume that this can be abused, and thus is inherently bad.   The other part of the implication is that police are bad, so helping them out must also be suspect.   The stats are interesting in this and the attached article.   Continue to follow, and I do occasionally thumb through shared alerts. 

Amazon’s Ring now reportedly partners with more than 2,000 US police and fire departments

Only two states— Montana and Wyoming— have no departments on the Ring program  By Kim Lyons

All but two US states — Montana and Wyoming— now have police or fire departments participating in Amazon’s Ring network, which lets law enforcement ask users for footage from their Ring security cameras to assist with investigations, the Financial Times reported, Figures from Ring show more than 1,189 departments joined the program in 2020 for a total of 2,014. That’s up sharply from 703 departments in 2019 and just 40 in 2018.

The FT reports that local law enforcement departments on the platform asked for Ring videos for a total of more than 22,335 incidents in 2020. The disclosure data from Ring also shows that law enforcement made some 1,900 requests — such as subpoenas, search warrants, and court orders— for footage or data from Ring cameras even after the device owner has denied the request. Amazon complied with such requests 57 percent of the time, its figures show, down from 68 percent in 2019.  .... 

Getting Around Smartphone Encryption

Being discussed, security and how it is being circumvented.

How Law Enforcement Gets Around Your Smartphone's Encryption

in Wired, Lily Hay Newman,  January 15, 2021

Analysis by Johns Hopkins University (JHU) cryptographers revealed encryption-circumventing schemes that law enforcement agencies use to access information in Android and iOS smartphones. JHU's Maximilian Zinkus said iOS has infrastructure for hierarchical encryption, yet little is actually used. The researchers found vulnerabilities in the iPhone's After First Unlock security, triggered after users unlock their phone the first time after a reboot; encryption keys begin getting stored in quick access memory even as the phone is locked, at which point a hacker could find and exploit iOS bugs to grab keys that are accessible in memory, and decrypt big chunks of data from the device. Reports from Israeli law enforcement contractor Cellebrite and U.S. forensic access firm Grayshift indicated most smartphone access tools probably operate in this manner. Android phones lack a Complete Lock mechanism after first unlock, meaning forensic tools can steal even more decryption keys, and compromise more data.  ... ' 

Doorbell Cameras Used by Criminals too

I have recently been asked about security issues with doorbell and other smart home camera systems.  The following excerpt from The Verge shows a perhaps less than obvious use by criminals too, they could record/alert themselves whenever the FBI shows up at the door.  An embedded link in the article points to details.   A notable alternative for security concerns in the Smart Home.  More also in the full TheVerge article pointed too.

FBI worried Ring and other doorbell cameras could tip owners off to police searches
Cameras capture everybody — even the cops
By Adi Robertson@thedextriarchy  in TheVerge (Excerpt) 

....  Federal Bureau of Investigation documents warned that owners of Amazon’s Ring and similar video doorbells can use the systems — which collect video footage sometimes used to investigate crimes — in order to watch police instead.

The Intercept spotted the files in the BlueLeaks data trove aggregated from law enforcement agencies. One 2019 analysis describes numerous ways police and the FBI could use Ring surveillance footage, but it also cites “new challenges” involving sensor- and camera-equipped smart home devices. Specifically, they can offer an early warning when officers are approaching a house to search it; give away officer locations in a standoff; or let the owner capture pictures of law enforcement, “presenting a risk to their present and future safety.”

These are partly hypothetical concerns. The standoff issue, for instance, was noted in a report about motion-activated panoramic cameras. But the FBI points to a 2017 incident where agents approached the home of someone with a video doorbell, seeking to search the premises. The resident wasn’t home but saw them approach by watching a remote video feed, then preemptively contacted his neighbor and landlord about the FBI’s approach. He may also have “been able to covertly monitor law enforcement activity” with the camera.  .... "

Amazon and Counterfeiting Crimes

An area we also worked in, detecting counterfeits.  But then isn't this another cooperation with law enforcement?

Amazon forms Counterfeit Crimes Unit to tackle its fake goods problem
The unit will work with brands and law enforcement around the world.
By Mariella Moon, @mariella_moon in Engadget

Amazon has been grappling with a counterfeit problem for years to the point that it reportedly decided to be more cooperative with law enforcement a few months ago. Now, the e-commerce giant has formed a new division called the Counterfeit Crimes Unit that’s dedicated to taking down fraudsters selling fakes on its website. The unit is composed of former federal prosecutors, experienced investigators and data analysts, working together to find offenders and hold them accountable wherever they are in the world..... " 

India Planning Big Face Recognition Program

Both China and India underway.  Will we regulate it away?

India Planning Huge China-style Facial Recognition Program
Bloomberg     By Archana Chaudhary

India plans to deploy a massive facial recognition system similar to China's that centralizes data recorded by surveillance cameras and connects with various databases. The move concerns critics because the country has no data protection or privacy laws, and a lack of safeguards for sensitive databases makes them prime targets for hackers and black markets. Supporters of the effort hope a properly implemented facial recognition system will make India's police force more effective, but others are unsettled by the potential for misuse, including spying, illegal hacking, and data leakage to foreign governments. Said Apar Gupta, a Delhi-based lawyer and executive director of the non-profit Internet Freedom Foundation, “We’re the only functional democracy which will set up such a system without any data protection or privacy laws. It’s like a gold rush for companies seeking large unprotected databases.”   .... ' 

Ring/Amazon Reveals How its working with Police in the US

Been a member since the network has been established, great idea. 

Working Together for Safer Neighborhoods: Introducing the Neighbors Active Law Enforcement Map     by Jamie Siminoff

At Ring, we believe that when communities work together, safer neighborhoods become a reality—that’s why we created the Neighbors app—we wanted to easily facilitate conversations around crime and safety among all members of the community, and we invited local law enforcement agencies to contribute to those discussions.

Today, 405 agencies use the Neighbors Portal, which is an extension of the Neighbors app that allow law enforcement to engage with their local community—from posting important information about crime and safety events in their neighborhoods to viewing and commenting on public posts as a verified law enforcement officer to asking for help on active investigations by submitting requests for video recordings.  .... " 

Further discussed outlining all the usual angst in Engadget.    We don't like safety?

Banning Facial Recognition

Police services need this, will create another un-safe regional situation.  Bias and errors will eventually be solved.

San Francisco Bans Facial Recognition Technology 
The New York Times
Kate Conger; Richard Fausset; Serge F. Kovaleski

San Francisco's Board of Supervisors has banned the use of facial recognition technology for surveillance purposes by police and other agencies in the city, making it the first major U.S. city to do so. City supervisor Aaron Peskin said this sends a message to the rest of the country, because "We have an outsize responsibility to regulate the excesses of technology precisely because they are headquartered here." Under the ban, city agencies cannot use facial recognition technology or data collected by outside systems that use the technology. Among those opposed to such a ban is the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation's Daniel Castro, who argued facial recognition data should be accessible to law enforcement if they obtain a warrant from a judge, in accordance with Supreme Court guidelines for other types of electronic surveillance.  .... '