Rethinking Surveillance: 3 New Security Tech Tools

• Cameras with Context: Google has integrated artificial intelligence (AI)-powered features into its Google Home products, such as its Nest security camera. Its proprietary Gemini AI model can now understand the situations it films, rather than just passively recording. When users view footage from the security camera, they also receive a description of what happened, including what people were wearing, what they did and the overall ambience. In the long term, the ability to recognise this context could increase the usefulness of AI-embedded smart home devices by enabling them to offer contextual device, such as turning on connected lights should an individual arrive home at night.

• Crowdsourced Anti-Surveillance: In the US, the use of automated licence plate readers (ALPRs) is being criticised as anti-crime measure that impinges on individual privacy. In response, open-source mapping website Deflock allows users to report the location of cameras they drive past. The Deflock map helps consumers stay informed about where ALPRs are being used, giving them greater awareness of surveillance methods in their local communities and helping them decide whether to adjust their routes to avoid being tracked.
  
  
• Study Supervision: Students in the US attending school virtually are being monitored by Proctorio, a surveillance software that uses AI to detect whether they’re cheating on marked assignments. To do so, Proctorio captures desktop screenshots (to ensure kids aren’t consulting supplementary materials) and analyses student movements through their webcam (to check if they’re receiving external help). Any ‘questionable’ findings are reported back to teachers. Despite the widespread use of tools like Proctorio, there’s growing backlash against them, with detractors saying they infringe on privacy, among other issues.

For more, stay tuned for our report Cybersecurity 2.0, publishing April 14.