Ummmm, why is Auckland Transport spying on Aucklanders?

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Ummm. What?

Sophisticated surveillance coming to Auckland

Surveillance technology that uses high definition cameras and software that can put names to faces and owners to cars is coming to Auckland.

The surveillance has the capability to also scan social media and news websites.

Auckland Transport, the regional transport provider, announced the multi-million dollar deal in June, and California’s Hewlett-Packard Development Company said today it has the contract.

No dollar sum is given.

They call it a “visionary Big Data” project and in a statement said Auckland has selected HP “to drive groundbreaking future cities initiative”.

All the data gathered by the cameras will be processed by HP cloud servers based in Palo Alto, California.

Auckland Transport’s Chief Information Officer Roger Jones is quoted by HP as saying: “The safety and well-being of our citizens is always our top priority and the Future Cities initiative is a big step in the right direction”.

Why on earth does Auckland Transport of all people need to have military grade surveillance of a civilian population? What possible purpose could Auckland bloody Transport need face recognition software for? They are a poorly managed transport agency run with very little oversight by the SuperCity, why are they getting an incredible  upgrade of surveillance technology?

The assurances that Auckland Transport won’t hand this information immediately over to any agency who wants it are meaningless because the new laws passed for the Police and the GCSB when it comes to surveillance all have loop holes in them that allow mass surveillance at all times.

We just re-elected a Government that lied about mass surveillance and the loopholes in the current law that allow for that mass surveillance. The lesson is that when it comes to eliminating a legal loop hole to stop parents from using discipline as a defence in assault cases by a left wing Government it is ‘NANNY STATE’, when it is a right wing Government expanding the powers of the mass surveillance state, it is protecting the population from terrorism.

This mindset by society is why we can’t have nice things.  We are one nation under CCTV.

14 COMMENTS

  1. Of course the results harvested will be passed on to official snoopers. Why? The Surveillance State is a self propelling argument and machine.

    The cameras were partly at least initially snuck in as traffic management aids to change light phasing more dynamically. Then the plods realised this would be a good revenue chaser. Then the snoops…or did they drive it from the outset?

    Sales of $2 shop combo glasses, nose and mustache, other simple disguises and windscreen ’scramblers’ deserve to go through the roof.

  2. I personally think this is an awesome thing. We should be able to catch more of those pesky criminals with this!

  3. By not kicking up enough of a fuss when we lost a fucking human right, middle-NZ have effectively invited our government to just go ahead and do whatever. We’re fucked.

  4. Martyn,

    The Stuff story got a few things wrong.

    Auckland Transport currently has five video systems which it inherited, this will bring it down to one processing system.

    We are not installing new cameras, this is a “back end” system for the approximately 1800 cameras we have access to covering intersections, railway and busway stations. Initially we will be doing a trial using 100 cameras.

    The system will be used to monitor traffic flows, vandalism and safety. We will not be using any capability which identifies faces or number plates, our cameras do not have the ability to do that.

    Let’s be very clear NO information is being sent to the United States. Information can be stored on our system in Auckland for a maximum of 7 days.

    We are working through draft policies with the Privacy Commissioner and will make the policies public before any changes are made.

    This is a $2million upgrade of a system we have had for 10 years, there is nothing new here other than that we are going to one processing system and we are introducing some automation.

    • Couple of responses

      1 – Auckland Transport currently has five video systems which it inherited, this will bring it down to one processing system.
      Yes – I am aware this isn’t a new system, it is a surveillance program that brings all your old systems under one new powerful new ability.

      2 – We are not installing new cameras, this is a “back end” system for the approximately 1800 cameras we have access to covering intersections, railway and busway stations. Initially we will be doing a trial using 100 cameras.
      Yes – I am aware this isn’t new cameras, your need to keep trying to explain that as an explanation is bullshit, I want to know about the new programming software you are gaining with the extraordinary new abilities it brings.

      3 – The system will be used to monitor traffic flows, vandalism and safety. We will not be using any capability which identifies faces or number plates, our cameras do not have the ability to do that.
      But the system will also be used by other agencies who are allowed to tap into your system and the new powers given Police for surveillance allows them to do that. It is only a mtter of time before your cameras are upgraded for these extra purposes.

      4 – Let’s be very clear NO information is being sent to the United States. Information can be stored on our system in Auckland for a maximum of 7 days.
      None of your information needs to be sent anywhere, it can be spied upon by the NSA in real time at any time they want.

      5 – We are working through draft policies with the Privacy Commissioner and will make the policies public before any changes are made.
      Sure you are.

      6 – This is a $2million upgrade of a system we have had for 10 years, there is nothing new here other than that we are going to one processing system and we are introducing some automation.
      Yes, mass surveillance plans for civilian populations has been planned for decades.

      This still comes back to why you will have mass surveillance arability, your claim is vandalism, I call bullshit on that.

    • “We will not be using any capability which identifies faces or number plates, our cameras do not have the ability to do that.

      No, your Cameras don’t have the ability to do that, nor would any higher definition camera, but that is a red herring, isn’t it? It is the Processing system, that you are getting that has that capacity.
      It would also not be limited to one pass on the incoming data stream. You see it is actually easier to do such processing after the fact, and you have admitted that you would be storing the footage for up to seven days. Loads of time for that sort of post processing.

      Your ‘reassurance’ is hardly reassuring.

  5. AT are already issuing parking tickets based on live CCTV cameras. Wait until you get a ticket for a 90 second parking breach and wonder why, where and how this happened when you were not approached by a human being. Is this about “safety” or revenue at the click of a mouse?

    And the word “Safety” is so awfully ambiguous isn’t it? Safety can be, oh I don’t know, anything ol’ they want. How long is a piece of string?

    I didn’t want this monstrous inefficient council and this creepy development definitely drives the point home.

  6. This upgrade, centralisation and automation of what is essentially a city-wide surveillance system is of concern for a number of reasons.

    First, this is an upgrade. Although Mr Hannon states that AT’s cameras don’t have the ability to use facial or plate recognition, does the backend hardware and software which is being used? If it does have the facility to, with better cameras, are we, the citizens of Auckland, going to have an iron-clad assurance that such systems won’t be implemented in future?

    Secondly, a centralised system, while much easier to manage, is one target to hack and control. Whether the intruders be local miscreants doing it for the lolz, an organised criminal element, or foreign government agents acting on the whims of their leaders. If this system’s security lets the side down then who knows who will be watching over us.

    Next, automation means less direct human oversight. This sure is a labour-saving notion, however, if there are fewer people handling the system, there are fewer people who will notice if things go wrong and control is lost to third parties.

    Given the background of current events starting 2013 and continuing to this day on the contentious issue of mass surveillance is AT so blind that they think this wouldn’t raise concerns? It seems there are discussions on-going with the Privacy Commissioner, all well and good, is there to be a public discussion also? What are these Surveillance Principles mentioned and where can the public access them?

    Lastly, I’d like to address the systems stated purpose, for traffic management, vandalism and safety. Traffic management in Auckland is a joke, we don’t need management, we need people to get out of their cars and start using a well-run public transport system. This needs a lot more than a new backend system. Vandalism? Really? That’s the reason for millions of dollars to be spent?

    Finally, let it be said right now: cameras don’t stop crime, they just move it to where it can’t be seen. Before the rejoinder that if this were the case then obviously we need cameras everywhere, actually what we need is to address the underlying cause of crime, rather than chasing it with fancy high-tech systems of control.

  7. This is not big brother. We are big brother. We all have smart phones and we are constantly filming each other. Why is there no outcry about that?

    Crime is falling worldwide, not just in nz, partly because of technology. If people know they will be caught, they won’t misbehave.

    These cameras will solve crimes including sexual assaults, robbery and murder. They will also save lives, recover stolen cars, and catch wanted criminals

    And if you think the camera is tracking your movements so a shady government agency can spy on you, stop flattering yourself, and put your tinfoil hat back on.

    If you get a parking ticket in the post then i guess you’ll know for next time right?

    • Here’s the outcry over mobile phone camera usage. Yes, it’s perverse that we have become an obsessed nation of selfie takers. Yes, these cameras do provide governmental snoops the ability to tap both the camera and microphone as well as upload any pictures taken. It’s disgusting that they have the ability to do this.

      There is a great body of research to show that these cameras do not solve crimes, nor lower the crime rates. Please feel free to actual research the topic. What actually stops crime are addressing the underlying causes, such as social injustice, anger management issues, or alcohol or drug fuelled behavioural problems. Money would be better spent putting a fence at the top of the cliff to stop these problems with good social services available to help rather than this ambulance at the bottom of the cliff.

      Nobody said they were tracking any one individual, you’re right – but we weren’t making those claims. With a camera overlooking, for example, Britomart, hundreds, if not thousands of innocent New Zealanders are monitored. The innocent should not be scrutinised in this fashion.

  8. As another astute commenter points out in Martyns other article on this ‘panopticon’ intrusion into the lives of Aucklanders, the HP System uses a “cloud” server infrustructure based in the USA. This is directly mentioned in the stuff newspapers article. A “cloud server” or “the cloud” are just marketing-speak for a large array of interconnected computer servers sometimes in one location and sometimes scattered between many datacentres (large buildings full of thousands of computers), and doesn’t imply any implicit gain in security design or architecture. Just wanted to make that clear for our less technically literate readers.

    I’m pleased to see Martyn himself and other commentators pointing out also that the ability to do Facial Recognition HAS NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with the camera’s capability itself. It is purely a software function able to be easily enabled at any future time!

    Modern CCTV systems on the small scale are typically older Analogue Camera’s fed to a Digital Hard-disk based recorder, and digitized in realtime into binary streams of information, which are then compressed with a lossy CODEC just like a camcorder or gopro camera would do. Usually the rack mount unit (you can see in your local dairy or store) has about 8 to 16 separate Camera inputs. The function of the customised Hard Disk Recorder is to record all those camera feeds simultaenously to hard disc, and to offer processing of the imagery during this or afterward. Capabilities differ but face tracking or AI enhanced recognition is pretty standard these days as well.

    Take the above turnkey systems ability into consideration, with it’s limited cost and then consider what a “cloud” of thousands of high powered HP servers can do in realtime with everyone’s mugshot, combined with all the other vast databases,and new over-the-top surveillance programs used amongst the 5 eyes, and you can start to see what privacy advocates are concerned about. This should be covered by Campbell Live or some other reporter who cares about day to day society, as it is very big news indeed and most Kiwi’s would be shocked.

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