NYC Launches Initiatives to Track Drivers & Passengers Traveling Through the City
The city will use license plate readers and recognition software to track who enters and leaves the city.
NYC has been using some form of facial recognition technology since 2011.
NEW YORK CITY – New York City has recently launched initiatives to track drivers and passengers entering and leaving the city, as well as where cabs and ride-hailing services pick up and drop off its customers.
“At each crossing, and at structurally sensitive points on bridges and tunnels, advanced cameras and sensors will be installed to read license plates and test emerging facial recognition software and equipment. These technologies will be applied across airports and transit hubs – including the Penn-Farley Complex – to ultimately develop one system-wide plan,” according to New York State’s website.
However, these initiatives are not without controversy. Jennifer Lynch, a lawyer with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told CNBC that by combining facial recognition and license plates with other databases, like driver’s licenses or property records, the state could create a dangerously full picture of a person’s life.
“We would hope that if they are expanding their use of face recognition – particularly to something as invasive as real-time face recognition on all drivers entering the city through certain points of entry – that they would very clearly outline how this information can be used, against whom it can be used and what’s done with the information,” says Lynch.
Lynch believes that the faces captured will feed into the New York City Police Department’s “command center.” Inside that center, anti-terror police monitor video from 9,000 surveillance cameras, a daily feed of 3 million license plates from roadside license plate readers and track global terror events.
In 2011, the NYPD began using facial recognition technology that ran through images of unidentified suspects to compare surveillance camera images with criminal databases, Instagram and Facebook.
If you enjoyed this article and want to receive more valuable industry content like this, click here to sign up for our FREE digital newsletters!
About the Author
Steve Karantzoulidis, Web/Senior Editor
Steven A. Karantzoulidis is the Web Editor for Security Sales & Integration. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a degree in Communication and has a background in Film, A/V and Social Media.
Related Content
Security Is Our Business, Too
For professionals who recommend, buy and install all types of electronic security equipment, a free subscription to Commercial Integrator + Security Sales & Integration is like having a consultant on call. You’ll find an ideal balance of technology and business coverage, with installation tips and techniques for products and updates on how to add to your bottom line.
A FREE subscription to the top resource for security and integration industry will prove to be invaluable.
