Briefcam and Smart City Technology in Perth
Information Certainty: Speculative
Deployment Purpose: Surveillance, Traffic Surveillance
| Summary |
|---|
| 0 |
Products and Institutions:
| Product Deployed | Briefcam (Software) |
|---|---|
| Institutions ⠉ | Briefcam Ltd |
| Datasets | Briefcam (Dataset) Unknown Dataset 0053 |
| Search software |
Status and Events:
| Status | Ongoing |
|---|---|
| Events | Start (2 May 2019, Documented, ?, No description) |
| Start Date | |
| End Date |
Users:
| Involved Entities | |
|---|---|
| Managed by | The City of Perth |
| Used by | Western Australia Police The City of Perth |
Location:
| City | Perth |
|---|---|
| Country ⠉ | Australia |
Description[ ]
In 2019, the City of Perth trialled Briefcam in at least 30 street cameras. It is unclear whether the deployment is ongoing, but it likely is as Perth is undergoing smart city development like other cities in Australia.
The technology, already in use at Perth airport, will be tested by the City of Perth as part of a new $1 million Smart Cities trial. Starting later this month, the first Briefcam "smart" video surveillance cameras will be switched on in East Perth. The cameras are able to match faces from live camera footage with any photos supplied by police in the search for perpetrators of criminal activity 1
The technology will allow city authorities to be alerted if someone enters a restricted area. It will also count pedestrian foot traffic and monitor motor vehicle traffic 1
Perth City Council has reportedly been filming and tracking people moving around parts of the city without their knowledge. In what the council calls a trial, a network of 30 cameras with facial recognition technology have been deployed across East Perth. This has quietly gone on for six months 2
But in Perth – the third Australian city to invest in the technology – many residents were unaware of the trial before it started.Some of them only began asking questions when they suddenly spotted mysterious cameras near their homes. Since then, a privacy lobby group has started a campaign calling for a ban on facial recognition technologies for public surveillance 2
in 2022, Perth is advertised as a Smart City and the cities website states it uses 'pedestrian sensors'. It can be speculated that this involves some form of object recognition, facial or gait recognition.
Pedestrian Activity sensors: This dataset contains real-time data from pedestrian activity sensors across the City of Perth LGA. Sensors send regular data using the LoRa network to a secure Data Lake which is connected to a range of dashboards. Understanding pedestrian activity supports City Planning, Public Events, Business Investment Decisions, and Activation of public spaces. No personal data is collected or retained 3
References
- a b c "New $1 million facial recognition surveillance on trial". (2019) <https://7news.com.au/technology/big-brother-is-watching-perth-trials-facial-recognition-surveillance-technology-c-98922> Accessed: 2022-06-21
- a b c "Perth's facial recognition cameras prompt scowls - and a campaign to stop 'invasive' surveillance". (2020) <https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2020/02/01/perth-facial-recognition/> Accessed: 2022-06-21
- a b "Smart Cities". (2022) <https://perth.wa.gov.au/live-and-work/smart-cities> Accessed: 2022-06-21