I'm a senior writer for Forbes, covering security, surveillance and privacy. I'm also the editor of The Wiretap newsletter, which has exclusive stories on real-world surveillance and all the biggest cybersecurity stories of the week. It goes out every Monday and you can sign up here: https://www.forbes.
$50 billion retail behemoth Simon Property has granted police access to its AI car surveillance feeds via startup Flock Safety, monitoring vehicles visiting its malls, public records requests reveal.Car surveillance startup Flock Safety creates"fingerprints" of cars and feeds the information to police, as do its customers, including Simon Property Group.alls are heavily surveilled places, with visitors watched by CCTV cameras and security guards on the look out for shoplifters.
Flock’s AI software allows its customers to search for vehicles by license plate, model, color or any other defining feature, making it an effective way to track people’s movement across the country. But while Flock is very public about its police contracts, touting its software’s helpfulness in solving crimes, it has kept its relationships with private companies under wraps.
Flock says its customers can choose to keep their camera feeds fully private or provide some data to police. But by directly handing over camera feeds to law enforcement, Simon appears to have expanded cops’ surveillance powers without citizens’ knowledge or approval. “When the powers of law enforcement commingle with the enormous powers of some of our biggest companies, there's a lot of reason for concern,” said Jay Stanley, senior policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union.
Simon Property Lowe's Flock Safety Surveillance Aclu License Plate Reader Car Surveillance Mall Andreessen Horowitz
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Why ‘Eternals’ Should Have Been a Show Instead of a MovieMarvel’s biggest misfire could have been its biggest TV hit.
Read more »
First Mover Americas: BTC Reclaims $72K; Meme Coins RallyLyllah Ledesma is a CoinDesk Markets reporter currently based in Europe. She holds bitcoin, ether and small amounts of other crypto assets.
Read more »
When did rats come to the Americas, and was Lucy really our direct ancestor?On this week’s show: Tracing the arrival of rats using bones, isotopes, and a few shipwrecks; and what scientists have learned in 50 years about our famous ancestor Lucy
Read more »
First Mover Americas: Meme Coin Indexes Are HereLyllah Ledesma is a CoinDesk Markets reporter currently based in Europe. She holds bitcoin, ether and small amounts of other crypto assets.
Read more »
EXCLUSIVE: Ulla Johnson Taps New CEO, Thibaut Perrin-Faivre, Former President of Burberry AmericasUlla Johnson's direct-to-consumer business domestically is a top priority for new CEO Thibaut Perrin-Faivre, along with international expansion.
Read more »
Drunk San Antonio visitors mistake Tower of the Americas for UFOThe base of the tower wasn't visible through hazy night skies, causing the visitors to believe they'd spotted a UFO.
Read more »