‘It scared them off’, Kansas City shoppers report less crime thanks to security robot patrolling strip mall
‘It scared them off’, Kansas City shoppers report less crime thanks to security robot patrolling strip mall
A sight previously thought to be science fiction is very real at a southeast Kansas City shopping center. Instead of a police officer, a security robot has been patrolling sidewalks and shoppers are taking notice.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/19944734
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - A sight previously thought to be science fiction is very real at a southeast Kansas City shopping center. Instead of a police officer, a security robot has been patrolling sidewalks and shoppers are taking notice.
Since Marshall the robot has been on the job, shoppers say the experiences have completely changed when they come to these stores. The robot can spend 23 hours a day monitoring the parking lot from all angles which gives people a new sense of protection and ease they don’t always have when out.
Marshall took over security at Brywood Centre in April. Before that, Karen White noticed a lot of trouble outside the shopping center.
“Sometimes it’d be concerning for your car like someone could take it or something,” White said.
Knowing now that Marshall is always watching, the risk of crime does not worry her or others as much.
“It made it very better, like you can’t be in the parking lot without seeing the robot,” White continued. “So, I think it scared them off.”
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"Pick up your gum wrapper. You have 20 seconds to comply..."
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Imagine shoplifting and they show up at the exit like:
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HALT!
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I'm pretty sure privacy goes out the window when you commit a crime. If it isn't robots it would be humans arresting you.
Don't support criminals in any form as they are the ones who are actively creating a need to stop crime.
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The bootlicking version of "why do you need privacy if you have nothing to hide?"
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He has a license plate reader, he has facial recognition, he can read IP addresses from your cell phone or watch,”
Uhhhh.... How is it reading the ip addresses of people's phones?
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I imagine it MITM's the wifi? Obviously wouldn't work with cellular but thats the only this claim can ve even remotely true.
That being said they could do some shit with malicious bluetooth/NFC behaviour but that would be a crime.
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Obviously wouldn't work with cellular
Ever hear of a stingray?
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I've heard for a while that stores use Bluetooth to track you as you go through a store. Not for anything nefarious but just to understand how people move around the store typically. So it probably does that too.
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Someone made a mistake here. It's not getting your IP address. An IP address is assigned by the gateway when you're connected to an access point. An IP address is not an identity. They are always changing and can be shared. This has already been tested and upheld in court.
It's actually collecting your MAC address. Which is exchanged when your phone or tablet scan nearby WiFi points or Bluetooth devices. However, this can already be defeated. By default iOS and Android both have the option to randomise the MAC address in intervals. Making it extremely difficult to prove anything. This feature exists because the devices real MAC address never changes. It is unique. Alternatively, users can disable WiFi and Bluetooth scanning entirely. However, your device no longer participates in the Find My Devices program by Apple and Google, location does take longer to acquire in some scenarios, and accuracy may take longer to triangulate.
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Counter-argument, this is all correct, but when the application is against shopping mall criminals it will work well enough. Not talking masterminds here
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It probably just has a WiFi repeater in it
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I bet it was something like the hardware id instead but she misspoke
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It must be for wifi that they operate.
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Scarier than I thought 😭
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One of these hit my car. It was out patrolling randomly in a parking lot and I pulled up to get a better look at it. I stopped like 6 ft in front of it but it just kept on coming and ran into my fucking car.
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BIG BROTHER advanced to level 3.
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On the one hand, yes, on the other hand, it's unlikely to brutalize or kill people for minor offenses, so maybe a win for a public space?
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EXTERMINATE!!!
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CITIZEN! DO NOT BE ALARMED! YOU WILL FEEL A SMALL TICKLING SENSATION AND THEN DEATH!
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I knew I was not the only one
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Wasn't this the exact plot of Revolution of the Daleks?
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First of all if you're too scared to go into a store because you think your car is going to be robbed You're probably too scared to live in public. However from the description it sounds like this thing's just a tall camera? It can't do anything except monitor? So how is this any better than those towers with cameras on them?
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This is missouri, it's not unrealistic that a car especially a those kias might get stolen.
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Psychology. Ever see ring doorbell footage where the owner says "drop the package" and people do? Its not like the owner could do anything, but for some reason it makes people behave differently.
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This is in a pretty rough part of town
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This is relatively low on my list of privacy concerns, being that it seems to be patrolling and surveiling privately owned property.
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Radio signals don't recognize property boundaries.
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Almost all of your life happens on someone else's private property
Although I imagine once you're in the club of billionaire elites, you'll be really happy to have taken this live and let live approach towards this matter
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I wonder if it can be hacked to spin fast in nonstop circles the entire day?
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Yelling "Meep morp... Zarrrp... Rooooobot"
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I live under a rock and don't get out much due to physical disability, but I don't see a security improvement. I see a data mining monstrosity and further reason to avoid local retail.
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Avoid local retail in favor of what, a website? If you're concerned about the data mining potential of this robot rolling around a strip mall then you should avoid the internet at all costs.
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Gaylord fartmaster makes an excellent point.
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It's a roving mobile camera. It doesn't get distracted easily or bored or tired and isn't apathetic and It doesn't hate its job. Criminals don't want to be filmed doing their crime.
Normally if you are not actively doing anything provably wrong the mall cops will just kick you out, this thing is going to provide evidence to the actual police.
But I have to admit any significant security advantages that it provides are going to be short-lived while the thieves just change their plan. They'll just have to be faster and more aware of where this thing is, or do a better job of hiding their face.
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Data mining monstrosity
Reason to avoid local retail
Should we tell them about the way online and large retailers make local retail's data mining look like a child digging in a sandbox?
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Two wrongs do not make a right. Anyone that scales their ethics to their worst offenders is a fool with no ethics at all.
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They are already data mining you without these robots.
They use facial recognition on cameras. They use OCR on your license plate and scan your toll pass. They use your phone location if you connect to their "free" wifi. They track your bluetooth devices that's constantly looking to connect. They track you foot traffic and see what stores, what aisle, what product you picked it up and how long you had it in your hands.
Google "Target loss prevention" stories of frequent shoplifters that had profiles on them for months and stop them when they can charge for grand larceny rather than petite larceny. There is a reason why Westfield malls are everywhere. It's easier for them to control their own data than to constantly buy or contract out data from other companies.
These bots are probably getting more data but they are more for security. A moving camera is more of criminal deterrent just because it is moving. These bots are so they don't have to pay for more security guards than anything else.
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It is not like I fail to understand the use case. My issue is that data mining me is stealing from me. It is taking a part of my digital entity to manipulate me. It is digital slavery. To be okay with such a thing is to enslave one's self; it is to fail at a fundamental understand of the three pillars of democracy and the role of freedom of information and the press. Forfeiting your right to ownership over your digital self undermines the entire democratic system of governance and is an enormous sociopolitical regression to the backwardness of feudalism.
No ancient citizen of a democracy wanted feudalism. These things do not have a parade to welcome them, a coup, or a changing of the guard. This change is a killer in your sleep and a small amount of poison added to each of your meals. Every little concession is a forfeit of future people's rights. This is that poison. I will go hungry. Enjoy your meal, I respect your right to eat it; after you've been warned of its contents. I reserve my right to speak of the poison to any that will listen.
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Google phones give a random fake Mac address on WiFi since like 10 years
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And that makes this thing OK?
"More for security". How does boot taste?
These things track every Bluetooth device, every phone, every watch, every headset, etc, etc.
It's yet another increase in surveillance, and "it's not a big deal because that's already happening" is your response?
Oh, and I'd bet a year's salary these are leased, and the vendor owns all the collected data.
This is about data collection, not security.
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I've seen Chopping Mall and know how this is going to end
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I'm glad someone else had this thought!
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Runaway as well, but without the mall.
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“Sometimes it’d be concerning for your car like someone could take it or something,” White said.
Wow, that couldn't be a better sentence to highlight the layers of meaning in that comment.
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Imagine it had guns and tasers its gonna end horribly
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did the engineers install red leds in the eyes? if yes we might have a problem
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This'll last until somebody with a mask spray paints the cameras.
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even just a blindfold or a bedsheet over the cameras could do the job
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If I give the robot a wegie and put a piece of dirty underwear in its head, will it shoot me?
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It's in America so yes.
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My point is that this thing is a dumb robot tha doesn't have a weapon. So its actually a step up from racist mall cops shooting people because they're brown.
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...If I give a cat a wegie and put a piece of dirty underwear on its head, will it shoot me?
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I have a really cute video of my 3 year old daughter chasing one of those through the mall.
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We have protectrons in malls now?!
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Can’t wait for the rollout in Philadelphia https://edition.cnn.com/2015/08/03/us/hitchbot-robot-beheaded-philadelphia-feat/index.html
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It could only be a joke. It is? Oh shit...
