GoKawiil
Tech News
Reports indicate Apple is developing AI-driven features that would let devices continuously see and hear their surroundings, processing data without necessarily storing the raw video or audio. The approach is framed as a privacy-conscious alternative to traditional surveillance, since footage would not be retained long-term.
Several US municipalities, including Fort Worth, Castle Rock, Dunwoody, Fulton County and Middletown, are piloting or adopting Flock's Drones-as-First-Responder system, which launches rooftop-docked drones automatically in response to 911 calls, license-plate alerts, or gunshot detection. Fort Worth's two-month pilot logged 162 drone dispatches with a 112-second average response time, arriving first at 76 calls and letting officers clear 11 without an in-person visit. Flock gained its drone capability by acquiring Aerodome, a maker of drones with HD and thermal cameras.
Flock Safety told Senator Josh Hawley it has replaced an open text field for justifying camera-database searches with a drop-down menu based on FBI crime categories. By year's end, law enforcement will also need to log a case number before searching, though the requirement can be waived in emergencies. The changes come as Hawley investigates the company and after a Senate hearing examined misuse concerns, including a case where a Florida woman spent 13 days jailed based on a camera match.
Apple has unveiled 'Audio Intelligence,' a feature for upcoming Apple Watches that continuously listens to and transcribes nearby conversations, then summarizes them daily. Although Apple has built in some privacy safeguards for the watch wearer, anyone speaking near a person using this feature could be recorded and transcribed without their knowledge or consent.
A Wall Street Journal report on the rapid expansion of Flock Safety's AI-powered license-plate reading cameras drew sharp reactions from readers, who split between viewing the systems as vital crime-fighting tools and warning they enable mass surveillance. The debate centers on how widely law enforcement and communities are adopting the technology and what oversight, if any, governs its use.