Ringing in a New Surveillance State
Recently during the Super Bowl, Ring, a home security company, aired an advertisement about being able to use their doorbell cameras to find lost dogs. This would be done using new Artificial Intelligence (AI) tracking technology called Search Party.
What the commercial failed to mention was the timing and overbearing nature of its own message and product. As of this writing, the search for Nancy Guthrie is still underway, and the investigation has involved the use of video camera footage from Google’s own Nest, even though the owner did not have a subscription to be able to access that footage themselves. Not to mention that there are ICE agents patrolling neighborhoods, using drastic means to detain or capture as many people who they consider to be illegal aliens. There is legitimate concern to believe that home cameras could be used to track down the people ICE is hunting, especially when companies like Flock Safety are promoting AI products that could help this process be speedier and more effective.
So, what does this insensitive commercial tell us about the current state of surveillance in America? Well, some say getting a product like a Ring camera is voluntary and that doing such should involve a conversation about its priorities and dangers, but there is also the matter of how cameras and devices are used maliciously every day, and that this can only be exasperated by the growth of AI and development of public acceptance and corporations’ use of it. There is fear mongering going on around surveillance state theories, so it is important not to let it get to you. Instead, talk to others about what you are seeing online, find comfort in knowing that you are not crazy for assuming that companies and technology do not have always have your safety in mind, and speak out against it.
