Posts Tagged: "surveillance"

Police surveillance innovations include facial recognition, social media analytics

Data mining and predictive analytics designed to enhance the decision making process for law enforcement officials have been utilized in Richmond, VA, for more than a decade now. These techniques can provide police officers with predictions of high crime areas that can be reviewed prior to starting a shift when used in conjunction with a geographic information system (GIS). Using this digital platform for predictive crime analytics, Richmond saw a greater than 20 percent reduction in major crimes between 2005 and 2006 while reducing its standing among the most dangerous cities in America. Similar data mining and analytics systems put in place by police in the city of Memphis, TN, have had a similar payoff, helping to reduce serious crime in that city by 31 percent in the four years between 2006 and 2010. That city’s Blue CRUSH predictive analytics system was developed in partnership with the University of Memphis’ criminal justice department using software developed by American tech giant IBM (NYSE:IBM).

Steve Brachmann

January 23, 2016

Can better facial recognition technology prevent the next ISIL attack?

Facial recognition technologies often raise privacy concerns, but as it becomes more reliable and accurate it can also identify suspicious persons before they are able to execute an attack. Research taking place at Old Dominion is also leading to better prototypes for facial recognition technologies that can recognize terrorists before they enter the country. A project funded by the DoD has been looking into ways to improve facial recognition technologies for use at vulnerable locations like airports and sports stadiums.

Steve Brachmann

November 17, 2015

US government sued for infringing surveillance system patents

Recently, a small business that designs, installs and services digital video surveillance systems, 3rd Eye Surveillance, sued the United States federal government for alleged patent infringement. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, seeking damages exceeding $1 billion for unlawful use of the company’s three video and image surveillance system patents – U.S. Patent Nos. 6,778,085, 6,798,344, and 7,323,980. The surveillance system patents are owned by Discovery Patents, LLC of Baltimore Maryland, who is also a Plaintiff in the case, and exclusively licensed by 3rd Eye Surveillance.

Gene Quinn

June 3, 2015

Event Security with Surveillance Technologies

Various governmental agencies have acknowledged that better methods of identifying risks in a crowd environment would be beneficial in preventing criminal activity. Security is always heightened at an event like the Super Bowl, but spectator security has come under increased focus during a year which saw the horrific events of the 2013 Boston Marathon. Thousands of people will commute to Super Bowl XLVIII through public transport, and MetLife Stadium can hold more than 80,000, making public security in that confined area a major concern.

Gene Quinn & Steve Brachmann

February 6, 2014

AT&T Seeks Patent to Prevent Crime on Gaming Networks

Our featured patent application today describes a system of preventing illegal and criminal activities on gaming networks by preventing predatory users from being able to come into contact with others who are susceptible. Also, this patent application indicates that the same gaming environments could be adjusted based on local user information to resemble that player’s local terrain. Other patent applications of note include a system of targeting emergency messages to an exact geographic location for affected mobile device owners, as well as a method for transmitting high-grade video data across a cellular network. We’ve also noticed a wide range of intriguing additions to AT&T’s patent holdings in recent weeks. One issued patent protects a system of analyzing user voice activity to determine demographic data about that user, which could then be used for suggesting goods and services. Another issued patent protects a system of adding maps to address book entries, while another patent protects a method of creating a personalized television channel based on user preferences. Finally, we pulled up an issued patent that enables for closer law enforcement surveillance of mobile networks in response to criminal activity.

Steve Brachmann

October 27, 2013