Tag Archives: police

Schools Using AI to Send Police to Students’ Homes

Posted on by

Schools are employing dubious AI-powered software to accuse teenagers of wanting to harm themselves — and sending the police to their homes.

Worst Experience

Schools are employing dubious AI-powered software to accuse teenagers of wanting to harm themselves and sending the cops to their homes as a result — with often chaotic and traumatic results.

As the New York Times reports, software being installed on high school students' school-issued devices tracks every word they type. An algorithm then analyzes the language for evidence of teenagers wanting to harm themselves.

Unsurprisingly, the software can get it wrong by woefully misinterpreting what the students are actually trying to say. A 17-year-old in Neosho, Missouri, for instance, was woken up by the police in the middle of the night.

As it turns out, a poem she had written years ago triggered the alarms of a software called GoGuardian Beacon, which its maker describes as a way to "safeguard students from physical harm."

"It was one of the worst experiences of her life," the teen's mother told the NYT.

Wellness Check

Internet safety software employed by educational tech companies took off during the COVID-19 shutdowns, leading to widespread surveillance of students in their own homes.

Many of these systems are designed to flag keywords or phrases to figure out if a teen is planning to hurt themselves.

But as the NYT reports, we have no idea if they're at all effective or accurate, since the companies have yet to release any data.

Besides false alarms, schools have reported that the systems have allowed them to intervene in time before they're at imminent risk at least some of the time.

However, the software remains highly invasive and could represent a massive intrusion of privacy. Civil rights groups have criticized the tech, arguing that in most cases, law enforcement shouldn't be involved, according to the NYT.

In short, is this really the best weapon against teen suicides, which have emerged as the second leading cause of death among individuals aged five to 24 in the US?

"There are a lot of false alerts," Ryan West, chief of the police department in charge of the school of the 17-year-old, told the NYT. "But if we can save one kid, it’s worth a lot of false alerts."

Others, however, tend to disagree with that assessment.

"Given the total lack of information on outcomes, it’s not really possible for me to evaluate the system’s usage," Baltimore city councilman Ryan Dorsey, who has criticized these systems in the past, told the newspaper. "I think it’s terribly misguided to send police — especially knowing what I know and believe of school police in general — to children’s homes."

More on AI: Suspected Assassin of Insurance CEO Studied Artificial Intelligence, Spoke of "Singularity"

The post Schools Using AI to Send Police to Students' Homes appeared first on Futurism.

Read the original here:
Schools Using AI to Send Police to Students' Homes

Police Searching for Teslas Near Crimes to Seize Their Camera Footage

Posted on by

Police officers are scanning for Teslas that may have recorded nearby crimes on their external cameras.

Commandeering Cops

Police officers are scanning for Teslas that may have ambiently recorded nearby crimes on their external cameras — and even going as far as to attempt to tow the vehicles away to inspect the footage.

As the San Francisco Chronicle reports, a Canadian tourist almost had his Tesla confiscated by the Oakland Police Department because it may have witnessed a nearby homicide.

The incident highlights a troubling new trend in mass surveillance, with the EVs' "Sentry Mode" serving as a public-facing extension of law enforcement — whether Tesla owners want to be involved or not.

President of the Richmond Police Officers Association Ben Therriault told the Chronicle that officers usually attempt to ask for the owner's consent first, but sometimes resort to towing the vehicles anyway.

"I respectfully request that a warrant is authorized to seize this vehicle from the La Quinta Inn parking lot so this vehicle’s surveillance footage may be searched via an additional search warrant at a secure location," officer Kevin Godchaux wrote in his search warrant affidavit, as quoted by the newspaper.

In the Crosshairs

Unsurprisingly, civil rights groups are calling foul. Electronic Frontier Foundation staff attorney Saira Hussain told the Chronicle that police using Teslas "as a resource" puts "third parties — people who are not involved at all — in the crosshairs of investigations."

According to Tesla, Sentry Mode is designed to act as an "intelligent vehicle security system that alerts you when it detects possible threats nearby" — and as it turns out, it's not just threats to the vehicle itself.

Police have made ample use of the footage recorded by Tesla cameras in their investigations, according to the Chronicle's reporting, from burglaries to homicides.

And they're willing to go a long way to obtain the footage. For instance, one fatal shooting led to an Oakland police officer obtaining a search warrant to tow three vehicles, including a Tesla Model X, according to the paper.

The trend raises some thorny ethical questions. Should drivers really be put into a position where their vehicles serve as witnesses to a crime? Are the EVs serving as a crutch for otherwise ineffective law enforcement?

It's a troubling reminder of the pervasiveness of mass surveillance tech — and police are willing to take full advantage.

More on Tesla: Huge Tesla Fan Says X Has Shadowbanned His Posts After He Complained About Defective Cybertruck

The post Police Searching for Teslas Near Crimes to Seize Their Camera Footage appeared first on Futurism.

Original post:
Police Searching for Teslas Near Crimes to Seize Their Camera Footage

Suspected Russian Spy Whale Was Reportedly Shot Multiple Times

Posted on by

Animal rights groups are confident that

Whale of Bullets

Over the weekend, news emerged that believed "Russian spy" beluga whale Hvalidmir had died.

But perhaps fittingly — considering his mysterious past as a possible foreign agent — the circumstances surrounding his death sound increasingly bizarre.

Regina Haug, the founder of animal rights group One Whale, is saying the beluga died a violent death, and is suggesting foul play.

"He had multiple bullet wounds around his body," Haug claimed in an Instagram post.

The post was appended with photographs of what appear to be bullet wounds dotting Hvaldimir's corpse.

"The injuries on the whale are alarming and of a nature that cannot rule out a criminal act — it is shocking," said animal rights group Noah director Siri Martinsen in a statement. "Given the suspicion of a criminal act, it is crucial that the police are involved quickly."

Das Shoot

A separate organization called Marine Mind, which was tracking Hvaldimir's movements, took a different tack.

"There was nothing to immediately reveal the cause of death," director Sebastian Strand told Agence France-Presse. "We saw markings but it’s too early to say what they were."

Strand suggested that the markings may have been the result of marine birds.

The beluga whale was estimated to be only around 14 to 15 years old, roughly half of the average lifespan of its species.

The Norwegian Veterinary Institute is now conducting an autopsy and will publicize its results in a matter of weeks.

Meanwhile, Noah and One Whale are adamant that Hvaldimir was shot and are "filing a police report to the Sandnes Police District and the Norwegian National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime," according to One Whale's Instagram post.

"I have been with Hvaldimir for the past five years and know him very well," said Haug in a statement. "When I saw his body, I immediately knew he had been killed by gunshots. I even saw a bullet lodged in his body."

"This kind, gentle animal was senselessly murdered," she added. "We will pursue justice for Hvaldimir and hope that someone comes forward with information about his killing."

More on the incident: Suspected Russian Spy Whale Found Dead Under Mysterious Circumstances

The post Suspected Russian Spy Whale Was Reportedly Shot Multiple Times appeared first on Futurism.

Read more here:
Suspected Russian Spy Whale Was Reportedly Shot Multiple Times