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IBM Used NYPD Surveillance Footage To Develop Technology That Lets Police Search by Skin Color (theintercept.com) 241

Three months after the American Civil Liberties Union revealed that Amazon provided facial recognition technology to local law enforcement, a new report by The Intercept says that IBM collaborated with the New York City Police Department to develop a system that allowed officials to search for people by skin color, hair color, gender, age, and various facial features. VentureBeat: The Intercept and the National Institute's nonprofit Investigative Fund, citing "confidential corporate documents" and interviews with engineers involved with the project, write that IBM began developing the analytics platform roughly 10 years ago in partnership with New York's Lower Manhattan Security Initiative counterterrorist center, after an earlier experiment with the city of Chicago. Using "thousands" of photographs from roughly 50 cameras provided by the NYPD, its computer vision system learned from 16,000 points to identify clothing color and other bodily characteristics, in addition to potential threats like unattended packages, people entering off-limits areas, and cars speeding up against the flow of traffic.
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IBM Used NYPD Surveillance Footage To Develop Technology That Lets Police Search by Skin Color

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  • Wow (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Alypius ( 3606369 ) on Thursday September 06, 2018 @10:49AM (#57263588)
    Searching camera feeds based on physical human traits. Quelle horror.
    • Searching camera feeds based on physical human traits. Quelle horror.

      Yeah... at first glance at the headline the initial reaction is... "uh-oh" that doesn't sound good- then reading the blurb you realize that, it's just doing a useful feature. If you're looking for a specific suspect it would be great if the software could narrow it down to people of a similar demographic.

      Certainly there is room for abuse here, but there's also room for a very valid and useful police tool. It all comes down to who is using the tool. A "good cop" could have a very powerful tool here... any

      • This. The debate about proper use of human-recognition software is a valid and important one. But if such software can't identify basic descriptive characteristics (such as, oh say, skin color) then it isn't worth a damn.

        Alas, we live in a world where people of many descriptions commit illegal acts. And we try to identify suspects based on evidence, including what eyewitnesses or video surveillance indicates they look like. Recognition software is one of many tools used for such purposes. But if it is used

        • by lgw ( 121541 )

          The 4th Amendment was, when written, primarily about "no general warrants" , because that was a very real problem the Founding Fathers personally faced. It has always been meant to forbid the practice of "a liquor store was just robbed, arrest the nearest black man, I'm sure he's guilty of something".

          I long for a SCOTUS that actually cares about the Constitution above their personal political preferences. If only ...

    • Re:Wow (Score:5, Insightful)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Thursday September 06, 2018 @11:27AM (#57263910) Homepage Journal

      Those who fail to study history are doomed to repeat it.

      These things are always abused. Always.

      • by Calydor ( 739835 )

        Cars are abused by bank robbers to get away with the money.

        Guns are abused by criminals to kill people.

        Is this a reason not to have cars and guns?

        • by bsDaemon ( 87307 )

          I have no data, but suspect that there is a large overlap in people who support:
          a) gun control
          b) self-driving cars

          • I just want to go on record that I am ABSOLUTELY AGAINST guns controlling self driving cars. That way madness lies.

            • by lgw ( 121541 )

              I just want to go on record that I am ABSOLUTELY AGAINST guns controlling self driving cars. That way madness lies.

              I'm OK with that, just don't give the self-driving cars guns! I saw that movie, and I don't want to have to think about all those time travel paradoxes.

              • I'm OK with that, just don't give the self-driving cars guns!

                Too late! The Russians are already working on it:

                The Kalashnikov Arms Factory Turns Out An Electric Car They Say Will "Rival" Tesla https://www.forbes.com/sites/g... [forbes.com]

                Will a Tesla armed with a Musk Flamethrower be a match for it . . . ?

          • by dcw3 ( 649211 )

            I'm totally in favor of self driving cars for anyone who thinks they should be behind the wheel while operating their cell phone, putting on make-up, reading the paper, etc. For the rest of us, I don't ever want one...never, ever.

      • We punish those who commit abuses. We tend to not ban things that can be abused.
        • by dcw3 ( 649211 )

          We punish those who commit abuses. We tend to not ban things that can be abused.

          Um, sort of. We make rules based upon those abuses, and those rules frequently inhibit the rights of the non-abusers. Think TSA, gun control, speed limits, HOAs, etc.

        • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          Some things are too dangerous so get banned. WMD, for example. And in most places guns too.

      • Re:Wow (Score:5, Insightful)

        by goose-incarnated ( 1145029 ) on Thursday September 06, 2018 @11:53AM (#57264126) Journal

        Those who fail to study history are doomed to repeat it.

        These things are always abused. Always.

        Weren't you the one always in favour of giving the state more power? More power to discriminate on basis of both skin colour and gender?

        You're right (now) that these things will always be abused, but you know what - we told you so. Honestly, you're in agreement only if the right sort of discrimination occurs, so this problem is because of people like you. Had you been egalitarian from the get go the state would have less power to enforce discrimination.

        Well Done!

        • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          No, you have me confused with someone else. The state should never have this kind of invasive power.

        • Without having read the parent, this comment seemed brilliant until the "egalitarian" part. There *is* such thing as *good discrimination*. Egalitarian thought would mean that you can't make subjective judgments of "better" or "worse." Absent these notions, you would need to substitute some other unnatural means of judgment that would have little to do with what the outcome of such judgment would be. Therefore, in the context of what you are supposed to be judging, the unpredictable range of outcomes would

        • discrimination? Be specific.

          Do you mean "Affirmative Action"? Because that's usually what folks mean when they use language like you just did. If so, for what I wish was the last time "Affirmative Action" is _not_ a quota system. All "Affirmative Action" does is require businesses keep records of their hiring decisions and furnish them on request. This is necessary if you're going to make discrimination on the basis of protective classes illegal since otherwise it's the businesses word against the perso
    • Re:Wow (Score:5, Insightful)

      by torkus ( 1133985 ) on Thursday September 06, 2018 @11:29AM (#57263930)

      Seriously.

      Reading the title, it implies NYPD is searching for minorities to ... well to do something bad.

      In reality it's search technology for not only skin color but other traits - none of which is inherently racist at all. If someone reports a crime by a 'white male, approx 50 years of age, 6'2 and about 250 pounds with blonde, shoulder length hair' then searching for that is the same as cops walking the beat looking for the same. It's also NOT RACIST if someone reports a crime by the same person but with darker skin and they search for it.

      I'm all for limiting abuses by cops and can certainly agree this COULD be used in bad ways but the article is troll bait, click bait, fake news, and every other horrible thing that's driving our country down the tubes.

      • then searching for that is the same as cops walking the beat looking for the same

        It's not the same, the technology greatly changes this and it's ripe for potential abuse, and not just the kind you are choosing to talk about with regard to race. This is the prefect tool to "create" evidence where none exists. And by create I don't mean locate evidence, I mean create.

        Technological tools like this are incredibly scary.

        • If you live in a nation where the state regularly creates evidence then this tool changes nothing, and you're just whining about something new and unfamiliar.

          If you do not live in such a state then it also changes nothing, and you're still whining about something new and unfiliar.

      • You don't understand the insanity of SJWs... Apparently, including race in the description of a suspect is racist these days. So news outlets just report age, clothes, and height. They got offended by so many "police are looking for a black man....." stories, part of the continuing mission to bury the fact that with the violent crimes police typically ask for help in locating suspects, blacks commit a disproportionately high percentage, and to smear anyone who brings it up as racist. Nevermind the damage ca
    • They emphasized "skin color" in the headline because that's how you get eyeballs in 2018.

      The irony is just a couple articles below is something about not merely trying to capture attention but providing quality instead.

  • Can be used evil. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by jellomizer ( 103300 ) on Thursday September 06, 2018 @10:55AM (#57263626)

    While this could be open for abuse, I don't think IBM was trying to be racist in this case, it is just a visual factor to help narrow down a search. Just like how law enforcement will also identify people by the tattoos or scars they may have.

    • by ibpooks ( 127372 ) on Thursday September 06, 2018 @11:08AM (#57263740) Homepage

      You're soft pedaling it. Of course IBM is not being racist, nor are their developers, nor their customers in NYPD. The very implication of it in the title and summary of the OP is a perfect example of the race-baiting, click-baiting business model adopted by the news-entertainment industry which has ruined their credibility.

      It is obvious to anyone that basic physical traits like color and size are essential to locating a person in a crowd, yet they've chosen to make a big deal out of it specifically for the purpose of churning their audience to anger.

      • click-baiting business model adopted by the news-entertainment industry which has ruined their credibility

        This might be me splitting hairs here, but I believe the word is integrity not credibility. Credibility typically is an adherence to fact, IBM is working on a system of facial recognition and the ACLU sees that as highly problematic. Integrity is typically an adherence to morals or standards. This media is attempting to sensationalize a thing that is mired in fear, of which newspapers should join in the fray per journalistic standards.

        That's all I had to say, I know, just me getting wrapped up in minutia

    • I don't think IBM was trying to be racist in this case

      How could IBM be racist anyway? 100% of the target have some form of skin color, right?

      • I don't think IBM was trying to be racist in this case

        How could IBM be racist anyway? 100% of the target have some form of skin color, right?

        Only the ones with skin... ... only the ones with skin. ...ONLY the ones with skin...

  • by sinij ( 911942 ) on Thursday September 06, 2018 @10:58AM (#57263650)
    Oh no, someone mentioned skin color. Racist! Racist! Racist.

    Burn the Witch!
    • Re: (Score:2, Offtopic)

      by JoeDuncan ( 874519 )

      Oh no, someone mentioned skin color. Racist! Racist! Racist.

      Wait, I thought these days you are racist if you DON'T mention skin color? People keep saying that "not seeing skin color" is racist, so...

      • by torkus ( 1133985 ) on Thursday September 06, 2018 @11:36AM (#57263982)

        Can't win, don't try.

        SJWs will find fault with whatever you say or do. If somehow they can't, they'll go after whatever they think your intent was. Failing that, well you were probably thinking something inappropriate and hateful. As a last resort, they'll claim that THEY felt attacked, marginalized, or otherwise harmed - and you obviously can't attack someone who is a victim. You victim-blamer you! See? Evil to the end.

        Personally i'm offended by any searches of physical attributes that include hair, being bald myself. This surveillance product should be banned!

        • A fun way to shut down an annoying SJW is to assert the thing they're claiming you're doing, even if untrue. They don't know how to deal with it. They already know that calling someone a racist, sexist, bigot, etc doesn't have any effect if the person they're trying to insult with it takes pride in being those things. An SJW is a bully wrapped in a thin veil of morality, trying to hurl insults similar to calling a straight person gay on the schoolyard, just to incite a reaction that will stroke their ego

        • Most of what you think of as "Social Justice Warriors" these days are Russian Trolls trying to divide the country.

          There's a very, very small number of nut job feminists running out of community colleges. They've got absolutely no power but they're blown way out of proportion by the likes of Fox News for much the same purpose as the Russian Trolls pretend to be SJWs: They're trying to get a rise out of you and distract you from economic problems with meaningless social ones (to wit: A loss of social stan
    • From TFA:

      ... In 2017, IBM released Intelligent Video Analytics 2.0, a product with a body camera surveillance capability that allows users to detect people captured on camera by “ethnicity” tags, such as “Asian,” “Black,” and “White.”

      Kjeldsen, the former IBM researcher who helped develop the company’s skin tone analytics with NYPD camera access, said the department’s claim that the NYPD simply tested and rejected the bodily search features was misleading. “We would have not explored it had the NYPD told us, ‘We don’t want to do that,’” he said. “No company is going to spend money where there’s not customer interest.”

      So yeah, it's literally about the NYPD requesting a feature to have the software sort people in the videos by personally identifying features... prior to a warrant for each person. If you're unfamiliar with the fourth and fourteenth amendments to the constitution, or the concept of due process, the best time to read them would have been before this system existed, the second best time is now.

      The racism part is a red herring, but at least it got people to pay attention. The problem prior to that, i

      • by lgw ( 121541 )

        Searching live camera footage is not really different from searching a crowd, except for the cost. Storing camera footage for later searching is a concern not well addressed in the Constitution. Personally I think we need a new amendment to specifically limit the ability of the government to store data (or search data stored by others) about mostly-innocent people.

  • So, police searching by characteristics that a suspect, you know, has, is bad? Why?

    I've long joked that our national obsession with race would lead to people being unwilling to simply describe people ("well officer, he was ... er ... tall?") but I guess reality has outrun my sense of humor at this point.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      I cannot believe how insensitive and discriminatory you are! Your example says "he", but is that really how zhey identified on that day? Your belief in what zhey really are is forcing your constrained, bigoted views on them. And tall? Are you a heightist or something? Everyone is as tall as they want to be, or need to be, calling attention to zheir own preferences is simply intolerant. Can't we just call people "zheyselves", because on any given day they may not identify even as a human but a blue lig

      • by Calydor ( 739835 )

        Why are you singling out blue ligers? Do you have a PROBLEM with blue ligers?!

      • Please, addressing me as "zhey" is really offensive. Please use the proper term "your majesty". Thanks.

      • by torkus ( 1133985 )

        You have to love the people complaining about pronouns that then go on to assign arbitrary pronouns to everyone else "IN CASE THEY MIGHT BE OFFENDED BY AN ASSIGNED PRONOUN"

        Can't win, don't try.

  • by alternative_right ( 4678499 ) on Thursday September 06, 2018 @11:01AM (#57263678) Homepage Journal

    Instead of looking for people by race in this country, we tend to identify them by skin color.

    Race is not skin color; race is a collection of traits which make people from different groups appear, act, and be constructed slightly differently from those of other groups.

    Since we cannot talk about race ("African-American") we identify suspects by description in the news, including skin color. Here's the relevant quotation:

    Using "thousands" of photographs from roughly 50 cameras provided by the NYPD, its computer vision system learned from 16,000 points to identify clothing color and other bodily characteristics, in addition to potential threats like unattended packages, people entering off-limits areas, and cars speeding up against the flow of traffic.

    We are looking at one of the 16,000 point here.

  • Garbage Title (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Digital Mage ( 124845 ) on Thursday September 06, 2018 @11:02AM (#57263694)

    The title should say:

    "IBM Used NYPD Surveillance Footage To Develop Technology That Lets Police Search by Physical Features"

    ...but I guess that is far less fear mongering than cherry picking out "skin color".

  • by The Original CDR ( 5453236 ) on Thursday September 06, 2018 @11:03AM (#57263696)
    The NYPD can now go after the purple people eater [youtube.com].
  • Governmemts can ease off antitrust investigations in exchange for helping spy on people (we will ignore for now wiggling fingers behind the back for "donations", the source and driver of much corruption in the world).

    Nah, this never happens. Nevermind.

  • I do not think it is acceptable to use this type of tool for anything resembling data science or statistics, and access to it needs to be very tightly controlled with transparent policies and a justifiable purpose.

    I saw a documentary on the NYC surveillance capabilities a few years ago, back when they could search only by clothing color and a few other visual cues easier than race/ethnicity. This is a system for responding to descriptions of suspected terrorists (or criminals?), allowing easy filtering of

  • until of coarse Pakistan or China steel the technology.
    Where are all those , if we don't build it , someone else will, folks who frequent here , who always think developing every piece of technology is good.

  • by quietwalker ( 969769 ) <pdughi@gmail.com> on Thursday September 06, 2018 @11:50AM (#57264100)

    Discrimination in a legal aspect is far different than discrimination - or should I say, categorization - by physical attribute. The latter should be allowed in the same way that the former should be defended against. That this article even exists is proof that some loud folks believe both types of discrimination listed above are the same. Otherwise, how could you consider that police using skin color in any aspect would be anything but normal, unless you somehow consider that to be wrong on some moral, ethical, or legal level? That's a problem, because at that point, it's just an attempt to whitewash reality with what today is considered politically correct. In fact, it sounds like . [wikipedia.org]

    Searching for suspects or describing victims based on known attributes is just a rational, good practice. Imagine if police were not allowed to consider gender, skin color, age, hair color, eye color, height, or weight in their official records. Imagine if it were hospitals that were not allowed to use those traits when treating patients.

    Sounds absurd to you, like this is one of those 'taken to a logical extreme' examples that no one would ever consider?

    Well, I've got news for you. It's already creeping in. Apparently the practice of using someone's apparent or legal gender and legal name for police reports is deeply upsetting to folks. The TG community calls it 'deadnaming,' and considers the use of the original or legal name to be violence, done both to the victim and to the TG community. [huffingtonpost.com]

    They're actually upset that the legal name and gender are being used by police in any capacity [npr.org].

    There's a good point in there, where their preferred name might be known and can be used while interviewing folks. The thing is, they say it like it's new, like there's not a 'known aliases' field somewhere. Or perhaps 'important notes: TG male to female, named X'. The folks advocating against deadnaming don't want that though. They don't want notes. They want this to be used for the official, primary fields. They state that even bringing up name in a historical reference about the individual should be disallowed, and go on to include things like parents (who might not approve) and so on.

    Now, this isn't like other minority rights issues. For example, marriage is a legal definition that confers real legal entitlements, and the LGBT* marriage rights is about getting official recognition for any couples regardless of gender (which is what we should be doing, and is so obvious I have a problem even considering alternative viewpoints) . But that's not what this is. This is lying about reality to make someone feel good about themselves, or at least, not make them feel bad, or in the case that they've died, getting others to feel good knowing it won't happen to them.

    Those advocating for absolute validity of personal feelings are going to be constantly confronted with the premise that the physical world doesn't care much about political correctness, and they're not going to just make their peace with it. I actually worry that we're going to have to legally protect concepts like critical thinking and scientific method as they're nickle and dimed away over time. ... well, I went off on a rant there. Anyway, let's not let political correctness become legally enforced stupidity.

  • Let say your a detective and have a witness that gave you a physical description of a suspect, but doesn't know the person's name (a very common scenario.) It seems like this would be a good way to find that suspect in a crowd. Frankly this is a sensationalist news piece.
  • THIS SHOULD BE DISALLOWED!

    Government should only use AI to view and catalog and track people by actual individual faces, walking gait, clothes, clothing style probabilities, license plate, vehicle type, vehicle damage deltas, phone emissions, Bluetooth reflections, WiFi reflections, infrared, night vision, and more all feding into a live tracker database panopticon they can just type your name into to find where you are right now.

    Adding skin color to that is racist and just going too far!!!

  • So, are we expecting that police officers, when looking for a suspect, will not go to the most obvious feature of a person while scanning a crowd? How would that conversation go?

    Officer 1: OK, let's search for that black guy that is suspected of robbing that bank.

    Officer 2: Gottcha. I'll look for some guys with black skin and....

    Officer 1: No, no, no. Don't LOOK for guys with black skin. That's racist.

    Officer 2: Soooo... I SHOULDN'T look for guys with black skin? Isn't that the guy we are tryin

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