The premise behind the show Person of Interest is that there is a large AI who has all of the feeds from all of the surveillance cameras in New York City. The AI was developed to stop terrorism (which it does well) but the story arc is all of the irrelevant (non-terror related) data it gathers - potential murderers or victims and the protagonists find these people and help them.
We just moved a little farther from fiction and a little closer to fact - from Vocativ:
Memo: New York Called For Face Recognition Cameras At Bridges, Tunnels
The state of New York has privately asked surveillance companies to pitch a vast camera system that would scan and identify people who drive in and out of New York City, according to a December memo obtained by Vocativ.
The call for private companies to submit plans is part of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s major infrastructure package, which he introduced in October. Though much of the related proposals would be indisputably welcome to most New Yorkers — renovating airports and improving public transportation — a little-noticed detail included installing cameras to “test emerging facial recognition software and equipment.”
From the Memo:
The Authority is interested in implementing a Facial Detection System, in a free-flow highway environment, where vehicle movement is unimpeded at highway speeds as well as bumper-to-bumper traffic, and license plate images are taken and matched to occupants of the vehicles (via license plate number) with Facial Detection and Recognition methods from a gantry-based or road-side monitoring location.
Pretty heavy-duty implementation. There are ways to counter the face recognition - glasses and hats that break up the structure of the face work well. The various Electronic Freedom groups are going to have a field day.
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