Legal
SIA Supports Senate?s STOP School Violence Act
The Security Industry Association (SIA) strongly supports S. 2495, the Students, Teachers and Officers Preventing (STOP) School Violence Act of 2018, introduced by a bipartisan coalition of 25 U.S. senators led by Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. The legislation would fund school security improvements and invest in prevention programs to stop school violence before it happens.
Cameras In Adult Care Bedrooms: Providers Warned Of Legal Issues
Aged adult care providers in Australia should be aware of the legal implications of families installing surveillance devices in residents? bedrooms without permission. That?s according to aged care paralegal Sophie Andritsos, who is researching the area as part of her Monash University law degree honors thesis. The use of surveillance devices —particularly streaming and video recording devices— is increasing in residential aged adult care facilities.
Milestone Focuses On Performance And Privacy In New Software Release
Milestone Systems has released XProtect 2018 R1. Milestone is responding to the market?s rising demands for cost-effective video business solutions with this first VMS update this year. In this release, Milestone pioneers the use of multiple NVIDIA graphics cards on top of Intel GPU acceleration (Graphics Processing Unit) to achieve ultra-high performance. The XProtect Smart Client 2018 R1 and Smart Wall now support hardware acceleration, where system performance can be boosted just by adding a supported graphics card to take over the heavy lifting in decoding video, leaving room for the system to handle other tasks.
Seeing Is Believing: Litigation In The Age of Video Surveillance
With the advent of new technology from dashboard cameras to iPhones, it has become easier to capture a collision unfolding right before our eyes. Chances are, if an incident wasn?t caught on an iPhone, iPad, tablet, dash cam, GoPro or camera, the local traffic, retail store or bank surveillance has caught something on their camera footage. Needless to say, privacy in our digital age is a rare phenomenon. That being said, we no longer have to deal with uncertain, unreliable and unclear statements. We can now simply just watch real time video footage.
Relocatable Video Surveillance Systems Give CBP Flexibility On Border
Illegal border crossings fell to their lowest level in at least five years in 2017, but after plunging through April, the numbers have risen each of the past eight months, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Meanwhile, the debate continues: Build a physical wall spanning from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean, add more Border Patrol agents or combine better physical barriers with technology to stop drug trafficking, smuggling and illegal immigration?
ASIS Announces 2018 Commission on Standards and Guidelines
ASIS International announce its 2018 Commission on Standards and Guidelines. The 28-member commission ensures the standards and guidelines development process is voluntary, non proprietary, and consensus-based, utilizing the knowledge, experience, and expertise of ASIS members and the global security community.
SIA Favors Tax Reform Law For Security And Fire Protection Systems
The Security Industry Association (SIA) led a coalition of industry groups urging negotiators to accept a Senate-backed provision for tax reform to expand deductions under Section 179 of the IRS tax code, which empowers businesses to deduct the full purchase price of qualifying equipment and/or software purchased or financed during the tax year. The revised tax code permanently expands eligibility for deductions to fire protection, alarm, and security systems, along with other equipment, placed in service in 2018 and beyond.
Digital Ally Announces Patent Office Rejected Motion From WatchGuard Video
Digital Ally, Inc., announced that the U.S. Patent Office has rejected the request of Enforcement Video, LLC (dba WatchGuard Video) to institute an inter partes review (IPR) on U.S. Patent No. 9,325,950 (the ?950 Patent). The ?950 Patent is asserted against WatchGuard in a patent infringement lawsuit pending in the U.S. District Court in Kansas. The lawsuit also involves U.S. Patent Nos. 8,781,292 (the ?292 Patent) and 9,253,452 (the ?452 Patent), the same two patents asserted against Axon Enterprise, Inc. (Axon, formerly known as TASER International, Inc.).
Chamberlain Group Files Patent Infringement Lawsuit Against Nortek Security
The Chamberlain Group, Inc. (CGI), a leader in garage door opener and access control solutions, filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Nortek Security & Control LLC (NSC) on Thursday, November 30, 2017. Lawsuit Alleges Infringement on Three Patents for Inventions that Improve Safety and Energy Efficient Operation of Garage Doors and Gates; Patented Technology Used in Chamberlain® and LiftMaster® Brands
SIA-Led Coalition Urges Congress To Include Business Expensing Reforms In Tax Overhaul
The Security Industry Association (SIA) recently led a group of eight industry associations in urging the House and Senate tax writing committees to strengthen business expensing provisions in the final version of tax overhaul legislation under consideration in Congress. Under current IRS regulations, customers must capitalize the cost of security and life safety systems over the 39-year depreciation life for buildings.
Genetec’s KiwiSecurity Privacy Protector Module Re-Certified ‘GDPR-Ready’ European Privacy Seal
Genetec announced that the KiwiVision Privacy Protector® from KiwiSecurity has been re-certified with the European Privacy Seal (EuroPriSe). The European Privacy Seal is awarded to IT-based products that are compatible with European data protection laws and excel in privacy protection. -GDPR-Ready- KiwiVision Privacy Protector is the unified real-time video anonymization module in Genetec™ Security Center, the company?s comprehensive, open-architecture security platform that combines video surveillance, access control, automatic license plate recognition (ALPR), communications, and analytics.
LEGAL: Use Of Cameras Installed In The Workplace For Monitoring Employees
Israel has set a baseline for ‘secret’ video surveillance in the workspace and has codified it. The unlawful use of surveillance cameras to monitor employees in the workplace exposes the employer to civilian (including employment related and tortious), administrative and criminal action. An employer must establish a specific and detailed policy with respect to the use of surveillance cameras and it must notify its employees of this policy. Such a policy is necessary for establishing that the employer has obtained the employees’ informed consent.
Cliven Bundy Trial Delayed Over Handling Of Surveillance Cameras
The trial against Cliven Bundy and his sons was delayed for a week over questions about whether the government withheld surveillance videos of the Bundy Ranch during the 2014 standoff. Jurors were about to be called into the courtroom to hear opening statements Tuesday when the trial derailed and federal prosecutors were asked to account for evidence they said did not exist.
Clinton Township MI Requires Video Surveillance For Certain Businesses
In Clinton Township, Michigan, a growing number of businesses will be able to provide recorded video from a new required surveillance system. Michigan?s most populated township recently enacted a local ordinance requiring certain businesses —such as banks, liquor stores, firearms dealers and coin dealers— to install video surveillance systems.
SIA Endorses Border Security For America Act, H.R. 3548
The Security Industry Association (SIA) has endorsed H.R. 3548, the Border Security for America Act of 2017 (BSAA), authored by House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul, R.-Texas, and co-sponsored by more than 60 members of Congress.
BriefCam Credited For Catching Alleged Child Predator
Meet Sgt. O’Hare of the Hartford PD who used BriefCam to locate and arrest a suspected child predator just last week at the BriefCam booth at ASIS 2017 in Dallas. Jose Japla-Yanes, 34, of Hartford, CT, was arraigned in Superior Court Thursday, after he allegedly tried to lure a 10-year-old girl into his van, and exposed himself to her while she walked to her school bus stop Monday morning. Police said the incident took place on Stonington Street in Hartford. A concerned citizen helped the little girl and called police.
Should Cops Preview Body Cam Video Before Giving Use-Of-Force Statements?
A webinar on the hot question of whether police officers should be allowed to review body cam video before giving statements on use-of-force incidents features a spirited clash of opinions among two law enforcement lawyers and a forensics expert, but in the end offers agreement on two critical points.
Buffalo Police Prepare To Use Body-Worn Cameras In Pilot Program
Editor’s Note: This City of Buffalo is by no means an early adopter of body-worn camera technology. And it is interesting to see the city deal with the same challenges that almost every other city goes through when starting a program to outfit their police officers with body-worn cameras. With so many cities across the United States (and the world) utilizing this technology and seeing the benefits —and learning about the video storage costs and available solutions— how can cities that are just now embracing this technology learn from their sister cities and leap-frog the challenge of ignorance.
Indian Supreme Court Landmark Ruling On Privacy
India’s Supreme Court has ruled that citizens have a fundamental right to privacy. The judges ruled the right to privacy was “an intrinsic part of [Indian Constitution] Article 21 that protects life and liberty.” The ruling has implications for the government’s vast biometric ID scheme, covering access to benefits, bank accounts, and payment of taxes. Rights groups are concerned personal data could be misused. The authorities want registration to be compulsory.
6-Year-Old May Have Been Slapped By Bus Driver – Parents Want Video For Answers
A Belleville, IL, family has questions about a school bus incident that the surveillance video would answer, which is why they say they?ve been asking to see the video for the last four months. Stacy and Mic Barringer say their 9-year-old daughter told them in April that a Belleville school bus driver slapped their son, who was 6-years-old, on his arm. At the time of the alleged incident, the school district, Belleville District 118, had a contract with the private bus company First Student, Inc., which employed the driver. The driver was later reassigned to a different route, according to the family and the district.