![\"A](\"https:\/\/wp-assets.futurism.com\/2018\/12\/new-amazon-patent-1984-300x157.png\")
<\/div>Neighborhood Watch<\/h2>
A new patent application<\/a> by commerce giant Amazon describes a smart doorbell that would use a camera to monitor users’ neighborhoods using facial recognition technology and report suspicious activity to the authorities. Needless to say, it immediately made privacy advocates uncomfortable.<\/p> “The patent is a roadmap for Amazon’s disturbing vision of surveillance in the future,” American Civil Liberties Union attorney Jacob Snow told CNN Business<\/em><\/a>. “People have the right to go about their daily lives without being watched and tracked. And there’s no assurance the resolution of the doorbell camera is very good.”<\/p> The patent for the doorbell lists as its inventor James Siminoff, the CEO of home security startup Ring, which Amazon acquired in February 2018<\/a>.<\/p> There’s no guarantee that a patent will become an actual product — remember those goofy VR rollerskates<\/a> Google filed an application for in November? — but CNN speculated that Amazon’s interest in the doorbell is connected to its social network called Neighbors, which is built on Ring technology and is meant to share information<\/a> about thieves who steal packages.<\/p> The implication: that Amazon’s system could become a distributed digital narc<\/a> that collected information even about neighbors who chose not to use its smart products — like a private-sector version of the ubiquitous cameras in George Orwell’s “1984.”<\/p> Amazon and Ring’s peers seem circumspect about the patent. Matt Pruit, the chief solutions architect at NEC, which also develops facial recognition tech, told CNN <\/em>that the impact of the technology depends on how it’s rolled out.<\/p> “Smart city or surveillance state are two sides of the same coin,” he told CNN<\/em>. “Technology in itself is neither good or bad. It’s how it’s used in the end.”<\/p> READ MORE: <\/strong>Amazon may want to identify burglars with facial recognition tech<\/a> [CNN Business<\/i>]<\/p><\/div> More on Amazon facial recognition: Police Surveillance Is Getting a Helping Hand from…Amazon!<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/div> The post A New Amazon Camera Patent Is Straight Out of “1984”<\/a> appeared first on Futurism<\/a>.<\/p> See the original post here: Neighborhood Watch A new patent application by commerce giant Amazon describes a smart doorbell that would use a camera to monitor users\u2019 neighborhoods using facial recognition technology and report suspicious activity to the authorities. Needless to say, it immediately made privacy advocates uncomfortable. \u201cThe patent is a roadmap for Amazon\u2019s disturbing vision of surveillance in the future,\u201d American Civil Liberties Union attorney Jacob Snow told CNN Business . Continue reading Patent Pending<\/h2>
Good Kid, Smart City<\/h2>
A New Amazon Camera Patent Is Straight Out of “1984”<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"