ShotSpotter: Recording Conversations?

[jefftk]

I suspect that they also spent a lot of time reviewing the exact phrases used to answer questions about recording.

I read some interesting specs for a PD dash cam. It included "retroactive" recording - which simply meant that it is always recording to a circular buffer when turned on, and there is a certain non-trivial amount of time during which a "retroactive record" (ie, "do not discard" command may be entered to prevent recently captured info from being dumped). Also, with modern disk technology, the amount of video that may be saved to a $100 hard drive is impressive, and the amount of audio that will fit on such a drive is staggering.

It certainly would not be hard, or even that expensive, to build a system that saves/records all audio within earshot - the only thing we have to go on in this case is SpotShotter's and the government's word.... I think equipment like this should be open source or subject to freedom of information requests.

 

[Another_David]

(unless ShotSpotter has just been lying to everyone... I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt here)

I think they are very misleading at the least. They've been playing word games. The "sensors" are basically high definition listening devices superior to any "microphone" and they are always listening. That would freak people out so they just chop it up to more palatable quips: they're not microphones, they're not designed to record people talking, which is half truths.

If you think saving a window of data before and after an "event" constitutes a violation of privacy then that is a whole different argument. I don't think the people from ShotSpotter are being disingenuous or misleading when they claim that the system is not always listening and recording data (again, I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt and assuming it works and was designed as advertised).

Isn't it wiretapping even if it's "just 11 seconds"? The problem is an "event" is any loud noise. That's not consistent with past rulings, which require a crime or civil infraction to justify automated audio recording. For example they recorded the plane crash and that wasn't a crime yet it was recorded and distributed. Could I record a phone conversation then edit it down to just the 11 seconds I want to save and not be in violation of wiretapping--probably not.

In general the rub here is that I can't record audio at my house even with a big sign saying "no trespassing, audio recording in use". Yet tax dollars pay for a company to monitor and record sounds throughout a whole neighborhood, which the exact locations of the listening devices are not made public and it's unclear exactly when the recording starts and ends. I guess the courts will have to sort it all out.

 

[Zappa]

Shotspotter now has a new companion, cameras with facial recognition capabilities:

Capturing a shooter’s face in a firefight

Fire a gun and your location can be pinpointed, your face photographed and your identity instantly determined -- all thanks to a new technology tag team.

When Safety Dynamics’ acoustic sensors detect a gunshot, they zero in on the shooter’s location and point a high-resolution camera at his or her face. Airborne Biometrics Group’s FaceFirst software then runs the shooter’s image against a biometric database to determine identity, even creating a new record if it can’t find one.

Full Story >>> http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2012/11/08/capturing-shooters-face-in-firefight/

 

[Matt_SERE]

Shotspotter now has a new companion, cameras with facial recognition capabilities:

Full Story >>> http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2012/11/08/capturing-shooters-face-in-firefight/

Scary article.
About the author.

http://www.rusi.org/about/staff/associates/ref:B4D936FD61456F/

Allison Barrie

Position: Project Officer, Conflict, War and Culture Series

Allison Barrie runs the War and Culture programme, an initiative that aims to look again at the changing relationship between contemporary conflict and modern Western culture.

Her past work on Ministry of Defence-sponsored projects included concentrating on future combat capabilities, soldiers' combat effectiveness, impact of combat on soldiers' psychological well-being, the use of reserves and retention issues related to British Army deployments. Her commercial advisory work for Fortune 500 companies includes analysing critical supply-chain vulnerability and resilience in the context of the threat of terrorism, pandemics and natural disasters. While senior research fellow at the Commission on National Security in the Twenty-First Century hosted by IPPR, her work focused on analysis of the terrorism threat, counter-terrorism measures, emergency response and critical national infrastructure resiliency.

 

[Terminator03]

Nice, looks like Mr. Orwells predictions are all coming to pass, just a couple of decades later than he predicted. Big Brother is indeed watching.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

In general the rub here is that I can't record audio at my house even with a big sign saying "no trespassing, audio recording in use"

In MA, you can. Wiretapping only comes into play for surreptitious recording. If all parties are given notice, consent is not required. This is why news cameras can record audio, but investigative reporters can't run undercover stings with audio.