Chinese police don high-tech glasses to nab suspects • Hacker News Board

Re: Chinese police don high-tech glasses to nab suspects

#21

Post by grondilu » Thu, Feb 08, 2018, 4:30 AM UTC

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #8

grondilu wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Notice that the smart glasses tech is improving fast. Intel recently showcased a very convincing (according to a reporter) prototype called "Vaunt". One advantage is that it looks basically like a normal pair of glasses. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnfwClgheF0

I did see Vaunt! For someone who already wears prescription lenses, that looks fantastic. (And the camera was never a key perk of my Glass unit to me.) The biggest thing right now for me, is what software I can run on it, and how much control I have over that software. I've been fiddling with a Vufine, which I can connect to pretty much any HDMI feed. Very cool, though it's a fair bit larger and bulkier than the stat…

Since this thread is about an article mentioning Black Mirror, I am reminded of the episode "crocodile". It depicts a tech that allows insurance companies and law enforcement to tap into people's memory and extract images of what has been seen.

Reading visual information from the mind is still far off, but if someday smart glasses become widespread, and assuming that they backlog their video input to the cloud or something, then for all intents and purposes, it'd be basically the same.

A very significant fraction of the population already wear glasses, so it's not too far fetched to imagine that soon, everything we see will be logged somewhere.

Re: Chinese police don high-tech glasses to nab suspects

#22

Post by danschumann » Thu, Feb 08, 2018, 4:30 AM UTC

I think we romanticize "being on the lamb". For the 99.999% of the time, if someone is a "wanted man", it's much better for society if he is apprehended. I don't see this as a threat.

If, however, every innocent person were tracked, and crimes were generated based on observations ( like souped up red-light cameras for every imaginable crime ), and charges were created automatically ( and algorithmically ), that would suck. Or, it would make us realize most laws suck and we'd remove them.

Re: Chinese police don high-tech glasses to nab suspects

#23

Post by gruez » Thu, Feb 08, 2018, 4:32 AM UTC

akira2501 wrote: post #10

gruez wrote: post #4

>the newest use of facial recognition technology that has drawn concerns among human rights groups why are they getting up in arms about this? networked cameras with facial recognition have been around for years. what's so different about mounting it on a police officer's head?

> what's so different about mounting it on a police officer's head? I'm not even mad at the implementation in general, the article implies that the officer first identifies a suspicious person and then engages the technology to make an identification. However, it's probably due to the fact that China is a country where your religion can get you arrested or kidnapped by the state.. so, it's still unsettling.

still, it's not like they couldn't do it before, with security checkpoints and face recognition cameras everywhere.

Re: Chinese police don high-tech glasses to nab suspects

#24

Post by jorblumesea » Thu, Feb 08, 2018, 4:32 AM UTC

danschumann wrote: post #22

I think we romanticize "being on the lamb". For the 99.999% of the time, if someone is a "wanted man", it's much better for society if he is apprehended. I don't see this as a threat. If, however, every innocent person were tracked, and crimes were generated based on observations ( like souped up red-light cameras for every imaginable crime ), and charges were created automatically ( and algorithmically ), that would…

You realize this is China, the same government that literally ground their citizens to a paste with tanks?

Idk why everyone is talking about this in such impartial terms, this is a totalitarian state that has no concept of civil liberties. The idea that this is going to be used just for mere criminals is a pipe dream.

Unless you classify criminals as those who disagree with the CPC. This is going to be used to repress the population, without a doubt.

Re: Chinese police don high-tech glasses to nab suspects

#25

Post by tracker1 » Thu, Feb 08, 2018, 4:33 AM UTC

akira2501 wrote: post #10

gruez wrote: post #4

>the newest use of facial recognition technology that has drawn concerns among human rights groups why are they getting up in arms about this? networked cameras with facial recognition have been around for years. what's so different about mounting it on a police officer's head?

> what's so different about mounting it on a police officer's head? I'm not even mad at the implementation in general, the article implies that the officer first identifies a suspicious person and then engages the technology to make an identification. However, it's probably due to the fact that China is a country where your religion can get you arrested or kidnapped by the state.. so, it's still unsettling.

The use of such invasive practices is unsettling even in countries where such things aren't regular (now)... Politics change, and what is acceptable changes. Any technology or legal tool available to the government will eventually be used in the worst way imaginable.

Re: Chinese police don high-tech glasses to nab suspects

#26

Post by wonder_er » Thu, Feb 08, 2018, 4:34 AM UTC

danschumann wrote: post #22

I think we romanticize "being on the lamb". For the 99.999% of the time, if someone is a "wanted man", it's much better for society if he is apprehended. I don't see this as a threat. If, however, every innocent person were tracked, and crimes were generated based on observations ( like souped up red-light cameras for every imaginable crime ), and charges were created automatically ( and algorithmically ), that would…

I can't help but disagree with your 99.999% assessment.

I feel like at best it might be 50%. At which point, it's horrible for society to be rolling the dice on every person in prison, if they should be there or not.

I would refer you to the Innocence Project [0] for a useful exposition of wrongful convictions, and error rates therein.

[0] https://www.innocenceproject.org/cases/

Re: Chinese police don high-tech glasses to nab suspects

#27

Post by danschumann » Thu, Feb 08, 2018, 4:36 AM UTC

jorblumesea wrote: post #24

danschumann wrote: post #22

I think we romanticize "being on the lamb". For the 99.999% of the time, if someone is a "wanted man", it's much better for society if he is apprehended. I don't see this as a threat. If, however, every innocent person were tracked, and crimes were generated based on observations ( like souped up red-light cameras for every imaginable crime ), and charges were created automatically ( and algorithmically ), that would…

You realize this is China, the same government that literally ground their citizens to a paste with tanks? Idk why everyone is talking about this in such impartial terms, this is a totalitarian state that has no concept of civil liberties. The idea that this is going to be used just for mere criminals is a pipe dream. Unless you classify criminals as those who disagree with the CPC. This is going to be used to repres…

"The same government that..." -- Hmm, I think government is comprised of people, and the people that did that have likely aged out.

This government is like the son or daughter of that government. And this government has realized many free market principles (and certainly many other lessons). It's not the same, nor totally different.

Either way, I have to talk about it impartially, as if I were contemplating its use in the states.

Re: Chinese police don high-tech glasses to nab suspects

#28

Post by danschumann » Thu, Feb 08, 2018, 4:37 AM UTC

wonder_er wrote: post #26

danschumann wrote: post #22

I think we romanticize "being on the lamb". For the 99.999% of the time, if someone is a "wanted man", it's much better for society if he is apprehended. I don't see this as a threat. If, however, every innocent person were tracked, and crimes were generated based on observations ( like souped up red-light cameras for every imaginable crime ), and charges were created automatically ( and algorithmically ), that would…

I can't help but disagree with your 99.999% assessment. I feel like at best it might be 50%. At which point, it's horrible for society to be rolling the dice on every person in prison, if they should be there or not. I would refer you to the Innocence Project [0] for a useful exposition of wrongful convictions, and error rates therein. [0] https://www.innocenceproject.org/cases/

I don't know, I feel like neighborhoods where no one has outstanding warrants would be more desirable than neighborhoods with many.

Re: Chinese police don high-tech glasses to nab suspects

#29

Post by jorblumesea » Thu, Feb 08, 2018, 4:39 AM UTC

danschumann wrote: post #27

jorblumesea wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You realize this is China, the same government that literally ground their citizens to a paste with tanks? Idk why everyone is talking about this in such impartial terms, this is a totalitarian state that has no concept of civil liberties. The idea that this is going to be used just for mere criminals is a pipe dream. Unless you classify criminals as those who disagree with the CPC. This is going to be used to repres…

"The same government that..." -- Hmm, I think government is comprised of people, and the people that did that have likely aged out. This government is like the son or daughter of that government. And this government has realized many free market principles (and certainly many other lessons). It's not the same, nor totally different. Either way, I have to talk about it impartially, as if I were contemplating its use i…

China is a totalitarian state with lip service to the free market. No one believes China has any of the freedoms it espouses. It's about as "free market" as a ponzi scheme with zero transparency into its markets, debt, companies, etc. Generation means nothing because they select for true believers.

The same people crushing people with tanks got promotions and are now running the government.

Like...you're so far off from reality idk what to say :(

Re: Chinese police don high-tech glasses to nab suspects

#30

Post by null0pointer » Thu, Feb 08, 2018, 4:40 AM UTC

CodeSheikh wrote: post #17

Do foreigners have to give biometric information such as finger prints, facial data to the Chinese airport authorities when they visit China? Anyone?

I visited China on tourist visa in December (2017) and didn't have to give up any biometrics other than photos/videos from the cameras placed everywhere.