Australia: Facial Recognition Diffuses
June 17, 2020
Facial recognition is in the new in the US. High-profile outfits have waved brightly colored virtue signaling flags. The flags indicate, “We are not into this facial recognition thing.” Interesting if accurate. “Facial Surveillance Is Slowly Being Trialed around the Country” provides some information about using smart software to figure out who is who. (Keep in mind that Australia uses the Ripper device to keep humans from becoming a snack for a hungry shark.)
The write up reports:
Facial recognition technology uses artificial intelligence to identify individuals based on their unique facial features and match it with existing photos on a database, such as a police watch list. While it’s already part of our everyday lives, from tagging photos on Facebook to verifying identities at airport immigration, its use by law enforcement via live CCTV is an emerging issue.
That’s the spoiler. Facial recognition is useful and the technology is becoming a helpful tool, like a flashlight or hammer.
The article explains that “All states and territories [in Australia] are using facial recognition software.”
Police in all states and territories confirmed to 7.30 they do use facial recognition to compare images in their databases, however few details were given regarding the number of live CCTV cameras which use the technology, current trials and plans for its use in the future.
The interesting factoid in the write up is that real time facial recognition systems are now in use in Queensland and Western Australia and under consideration in in New South Wales.
The article points out:
Real-time facial recognition software can simply be added to existing cameras, so it is difficult to tell which CCTV cameras are using the technology and how many around the country might be in operation.
DarkCyber believes that this means real time facial recognition is going to be a feature update, not unlike getting a new swipe action with a mobile phone operating system upgrade.
The article does not identify vendors providing these features, nor are data about accuracy, costs, and supporting infrastructure required.
What’s intriguing is that the article raises the thought that Australia might be on the information highway leading to a virtual location where Chinese methods are part of the equipment for living.
Will Australia become like China?
Odd comparison that. There’s the issue of population, the approach to governance, and the coastline to law enforcement ratio.
The write up also sidesteps the point that facial recognition is a subset of pattern recognition, statistical cross correlation, and essential plumbing for Ripper.
Who provides the smart software for that shark spotting drone? Give up? Maybe Amazon, the company not selling facial recognition to law enforcement in the US.
Interesting, right?
Stephen E Arnold, June 17, 2020
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