Muni to Install New Automatic Surveillance System
Photo by James Castañeda
SFMTA spokesperson Paul Rose told us that construction will be complete at the Portals by this time next year and complete in the stations by late next year.
The Daily Mail reports that the cameras build up a memory of normal versus suspicious behavior:
The company says will put them in 12 stations with up to 22 cameras in each, bringing the total number to 288.
The cameras will be able to track up to 150 people at a time in real time and will gradually build up a ‘memory’ of suspicious behaviour to work out what is suspicious.
So how does this work? BRS Labs President John Frazzini told Fast Company:
The company’s AIsight behavior recognition product relies on 11 patents related to computer vision technology and surveillance imagery. BRS’s patents primarily deal with the intersection between computer vision and machine learning; video footage grabbed by MUNI cameras will be automatically translated into code for real-time processing. Clips of anomalous activity are dispatched to MUNI employees automatically; SMS text message alerts are also sent to staffers’ mobile phones.
The system can send out alerts such as when someone has placed an unattended package in a populated area, or when an individual is trespassing into an area that normally only vehicles travel.
Some reports have hinted at the potential “big brother” aspect of the to-be-installed security system. Should the average transit rider worry about the new cameras?
12 stations? How are they counting? Embarcadero, Montgomery, Powell, Civic Center, Van Ness, Church, Castro, Forest Hill, West Portal only makes 9.
Don’t forget Balboa Park, Folsom, Brannan, 2nd & King.
http://transit.511.org/static/providers/maps/SF_712200722226.pdf
It’ll send an alert out to a human supervisor? Then what? If Muni employees’ track records are anything to go by, that means nothing will happen.
Bingo time!
the larpers need to come out and confuse those algorythms
What about Balboa Park and the stations on the way to the Caltrain station?
Muni stations have zero security personnel. They can install all the fancy tech they want, but if there’s no one physically present, it will make zero difference (aside from the cost.)
While the intention behind this surveillance system is to bolster security it is essential to address concerns regarding privacy invasion and potential misuse of the collected data.
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This technology seems like something straight out of a sci-fi movie. I’m all for safety, but I’m not sure how comfortable I am with AI like ChatGPT deciding what’s “suspicious.” Hopefully, human oversight will prevent any unfair profiling or invasion of privacy.