Legal
NY Bill Would Enable Lawsuit For Nonconsensual Backyard Surveillance
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently signed a bill into law that allows homeowners to sue a neighbor for invasion of privacy if the neighbor secretly records recreational activities in the homeowner’s backyard. The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Cathy Young, R-Cattaraugus County, and Assemblyman Ed Braunstein, D-Queens, builds on a 2003 law that made it a felony to videotape someone without their permission in an intimate setting where there would be a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as a bedroom or bathroom.
Police: Think Twice Before Sharing Video Surveillance Of Crimes
We?re living in the age of video surveillance. Unfortunately, we see it most often when one of us has been violated by crooks. Crimes like package thefts, car prowls, even hit-and-run crashes may never have been solved had it not been for the watchful eye of security cameras. But one Puget Sound police department is warning people to think twice before sharing evidence on social media; otherwise the investigation could be over before it begins.
Baltimore County Explores Body-Worn Cam Use By Off-Duty Officers
Baltimore County officials are looking into requiring police officers to wear body cameras while working off-duty security details. There’s no opposition to the idea. The issues regard costs, logistics and current state law. The move follows a fatal shooting Tuesday by an officer working security at a Catonsville grocery store. Baltimore County police Officer 1st Class McCain fatally shot a man in the parking lot as the man’s vehicle dragged him more than 100 feet while trying to get away.
Families File Suit In Boston Condo Murders: Allege Shoddy Security
The high-end Boston condominium building where two doctors were murdered in May provided an alleged flimsy ?veneer? of security for its tenants, allowing the brutal stabbing deaths to occur, according to a wrongful death suit filed by the victims? families. The suit points out a number of alleged soft spots in the building?s security system. It says anyone can walk into the garage, and that a solitary security employee has the responsibility to watch that camera feed from the front desk.
New Police Body-Worn Cameras Turned On By 911 Dispatch
As police departments around the world struggle with policies and procedures on the usage of body-worn cameras —especially when to turn them on— a new body cam and software solution is delivering on how to effectively get the camera to record at appropriate times. Equature’s Interactive Policing® Real-Time Software allows individual body-worn cameras to be turned on by police management or 911 dispatch control based on the first responder’s operational policies.
Truck Fleet Exoneration: Using Video To Determine Accident Liability
Inattention, excessive speed, failure to yield, and unsafe lane changes are among the top causes of truck collisions, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). For fleet managers, preventing collisions caused by their own drivers can be quite challenging because risk factors must be measured before an accident occurs. But what happens when a crash isn?t the truck driver?s fault? In fact, a Fleet Owner whitepaper on video-based safety, sponsored by SmartDrive, found that even though truckers are blamed for most of the crashes that occur in the U.S., 80% of those crashes are actually the fault of car drivers.
Barrie Ont City Staff Looking At Potential Bylaw To Regulate Surveillance Systems And Drones
The city of Barrie, Ontario, Canada, will take a closer look at regulating technology that’s eyeballing Barrie. Council has asked staff to investigate a potential bylaw to regulate home security video surveillance systems, domestic closed-circuit television surveillance, and drones with cameras. Other city councillors have the same issues but are also concerned about regulation.
Conduent Incorporated Secures Facial Expression Recognition Technology Patents
Conduent Incorporated (NYSE: CNDT) has been awarded a U.S. patent for technology that automatically recognizes facial expressions using images from low resolution cameras. Since becoming an independent public company on December 31, 2016, the company has been awarded more than 20 patents, with several related to computer vision technology. Automatic facial expression recognition technology builds on Conduent’s expertise in computer vision techniques and enables the company to pursue commercial opportunities in multiple industries.
Man Wrongly Jailed Can’t Sue Cops Who Ignored His Video Alibi
This would seem to be a simple case, a real no-brainer, based on the opening statement of an opinion by a federal appeals court judge. “Rasheed Waters sat in jail for more than a year awaiting trial for a crime he did not commit,” wrote Judge Joseph A. Greenaway Jr. “He had a verifiable alibi, based on video surveillance, which he claims the arresting officer ignored.” After viewing that video, a Montgomery County judge promptly dismissed the burglary charges that had kept Waters behind bars so unnecessarily. So, Waters can sue the cops for his troubles, right? – No.
Spring Hill TN Police Employ Drones For Public Safety
The drone will aid the department in a wide range of uses, such as providing an aerial view of HAZMAT incidents and major traffic crash scenes, which helps with investigation and incident reconstruction; having a bird?s eye view during search and rescue missions, or when searching for missing children; tracking an aggressor during any critical incident, such as one involving the police department?s Special Response Team or during a hostage situation; tracking a suspect on the run; traffic monitoring, such as photographing or videoing an intersection where accidents frequently occur, examining storm water drainage issues, school traffic dynamics, roadway construction projects, traffic flow patterns, or any issues that may impact roadway safety.
Farpointe Alerts Partners To Encrypt Wireless Access Control Systems
Farpointe Data, the access control industry’s trusted OEM partner for RFID solutions, alerted its access control manufacturer, distributor, integrator, dealer and specifier partners about the potential impact on their businesses of the settlement of Edenborough v. ADT LLC, (Case No. 3:16-cv-02233, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California). Referred to as the ADT Hacking Vulnerability Class Action Lawsuit, ADT will pay $16 million to settle five hacking vulnerability class actions because of claims that ADT’s wireless security systems were vulnerable to hacking because ADT failed to include any encryption within them.
KC Police Plan To Outfit Officers With Body Cameras As Price Tag Reaches $6M
Kansas City police brass say their plan to equip hundreds of officers with body cameras as a new estimate puts initial costs at roughly $6 million. That $6 million price tag is expected to cover the initial start-up costs, equipment upgrades, storage expenses and hiring additional workers to manage the effort and to respond open records request for the video recordings. Officials have not identified a sustainable funding source and said it could take three years before officers can begin wearing the recording devices. The police board must approve the use of body cameras.
NYC Bill Would Force NYPD To Tell Details Of Surveillance Tools
Legislation debated Wednesday before the New York City Council would force the NYPD to disclose some details about surveillance technology such as cellphone-tower replicators, X-ray vans, and license-plate readers. The NYPD also would need to adopt what lawmakers say are privacy disclosures similar to those of the Department of Homeland Security and other municipalities. Under the POST Act —short for Public Oversight of Police Technology— the NYPD would need to publicly disclose each item?s current and future ?impact and use policies,? seek public feedback, and explain whether court permission is needed for deployment.
SIA Establishes SecurityPAC To Bolster Advocacy Efforts
SIA formed SecurityPAC to bolster its advocacy efforts to fully engage within U.S. political process on matters affecting the security industry. The PAC will raise funds solely from SIA members to support candidates for federal office who champion issues important to the industry. And SecurityPAC will support matters pertaining but not limited to issues such as homeland security, cybersecurity, federal procurement and critical infrastructure protection.
PureTech Granted Patent For Tracking Of Aerial Targets Utilizing Video
As the commercial drone market expands at an accelerating rate, so does the risk of malicious use of these devices and the need to successfully detect and take counter measures. This is the focus of the most recent PureTech Systems patent approval. System and Method for Autonomous PTZ Tracking of Aerial Targets (US Patent No 9,652,860 B1), grants claims for video-based detection and tracking of targets against a featureless background, such as airborne aircraft and drones. The patent leverages the PureTech?s continued research and development using geospatial video analytics for both security and safety applications.
Miami-Dade Police Abandon Aerial Surveillance Plans
The Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) is scrapping plans to test persistent aerial surveillance technology following criticism from privacy advocates. This kind of technology has prompted privacy concerns in others cities, with Baltimore being perhaps the most notable. One of the best-known aerial surveillance companies allows users to keep a roughly 25 square mile area under surveillance and comes with ?Google Earth with TiVo? capability, The news from Miami-Dade county. while reassuring, underlines a number of issues concerning federalism, privacy, and transparency that lawmakers must tackle as aerial surveillance tools improve and proliferate.
Detroit May Force Businesses To Share Surveillance
Detroit police and city officials are drafting an ordinance that would make it mandatory for all venues that serve customers after 10 p.m. to join Project Green Light, a program that allows officers to monitor businesses? high-definition video feeds in real time. All businesses open that late —from party stores and gas stations to sports stadiums like Comerica Park and venues like the Fox Theatre— would be subject to the ordinance if it?s passed, police said. Police report double-digit reductions in violent crime at businesses that have enrolled in Project Green Light.
Use Of Video Recordings As Evidence Within The European Union
For a number of years now, public life has seen an exponential increase of the use of video recording equipment. The question remains under which conditions video equipment can be installed and to which extent video recordings can be allowed as evidence within the European Union (EU) legal system. Not only in the public space, but also on the work floor are cameras deployed regularly. In addition, it is almost a certainty that most events are recorded by dashcams, drones, or smartphones. The opinions diverge on whether or not this is a positive evolution. What has become clear is that video recordings can be used as evidence in legal procedures.
PA Senate OKs Bill For More Police Body Cameras
Legislation approved by the Pennsylvania state Senate on Wednesday seeks to clear legal hurdles for police departments to expand their officers? use of body cameras, and it gives departments the discretion to refuse public requests for copies of audio or video recordings by officers. The bill, which passed 47-1 after brief comments on the Senate floor, would add Pennsylvania to a growing list of states that are setting statewide policy over the collection of audio and video by officers, including from dashboard and body cameras.
Sony Files New 337 Complaint Regarding Certain Magnetic Tape Cartridges
As LTO storage technology is beginning to take root in the video surveillance retention market, a lawsuit such as this described below, could ultimately reduce the number of sources to obtain this storage technology and would more than likely increase costs thus stunting the acceptance of this technology in the physical security market. With companies like Quantum and SpectraLogic and others showcasing the low-cost option of long-term video retention when using LTO storage technologies, such a supply-chain lawsuit will not help grow this market.