Somebody is Watching You
Police devices are recording us. Database shows where in Florida
A group of students and volunteers has compiled a database of surveillance technologies being used by by law enforcement agencies in counties and municipalities across the United States.
The research conducted by Atlas of Surveillance includes data on drones, body cameras, automated license plate readers, facial recognition, and more.
Atlas of Surveillance's database allows Floridians and people all across the country to select their community and see what kind of surveillance technologies are being used by local law enforcement.
There are at least eight. Some of them might be unfamiliar to most people.
What kinds of technology do Florida cops use?
Automatic license plate readers, drones, and even devices called cell-site simulators that trick nearby mobile phones into connecting to the device rather than cellular tower are a few of the law enforcement tools being monitored by Atlas of Surveillance.
Harris Corp., based in Melbourne, Florida, makes cell-site simulators used by agencies in Jacksonville and Sunrise, and by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Florida cops use facial recognition technology
Among the most controversial technologies used by law enforcement is facial recognition. At least 261 law enforcement agencies in the state of Florida are using it, the Atlas of Surveillance database shows.
Privacy advocates are concerned about both the accuracy and the privacy implications of using the software in law enforcement.
According to a test performed by the ACLU of Northern California, Amazon’s facial recognition software falsely matched the faces of 28 members of Congress with faces in a mugshot database.
And according to a cyber consultant and strategist Hafiz Sheikh Ahmed, facial recognition data is difficult to encrypt and uniquely vulnerable to misuse when data breaches happen. Facial scans also can be captured "remotely and secretly."
Which police technologies are tracked?
Atlas of Surveillance tracks vendors, contracts, taxpayer spending and other factors for a variety of technologies:
Body camera
Surveillance drones
License plate readers
Acoustic gunshot detection
Surveillance camera registries
Predictive policing, using algorithms to predict high-crime areas
Facial recognition technology
Cell-site simulators