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Pre-Crime in the UK: Businesses Crowdsource a Watch List (arstechnica.com)

Posted by Soulskill on from the better-hope-you-don't-look-suspicious dept.

Press2ToContinue writes: In the film Minority Report, people are rounded up by the Precrime police agency before they actually commit the crime. In the movie, this pre-crime information is provided by 'pre-cognition' savants floating in a goopy nutrient bath who can apparently see the future. Replace those gibbering pre-cog mutants with Facewatch. It's a system that lets retailers, publicans, and restaurateurs share private video footage with the police and each other. It is integrated with real-time face recognition systems, such as NEC's NeoFace. Where previously a member of staff had to keep an eye out for people, on the crowdsourced Facewatch watch list, now the system can automatically tell you if someone on the watch list has just entered the premises. A member of staff can then keep an eye on that person, or ask them politely (or not) to leave.

6 of 162 comments (clear)

  1. Better then LA pre_crime where then get you for by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Better then LA pre_crime where then get you for per Prostitution just for driving down a road.

  2. That's Not Pre-Crime by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's a system that lets retailers, publicans, and restaurateurs share private video footage with the police and each other.

    That's not pre-crime. That's sharing video footage of actual behavior.

    Casinos has done this forever, and I'd imagine so do large chain grocery, department, and big box stores.

  3. Old time US version by Kohath · · Score: 4, Informative

    Retailers post pictures on their wall saying "Do no accept checks from this person". It's just a reputation system committed to paper. It's not really a problem, but it's also not something the government (police) should be involved in because government blacklists violate due process rights.

  4. Seems Fine To Me by Assoluto · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If somebody has a history of shoplifting, keeping an eye on that person when they're in your store seems perfectly sensible to me.

    I also have to wonder why half the article was about Minority Report when there are few similarities between pre-crime and this system. In Minority Report arrests were based on information from the future, while this system is based on past information. In Minority Report people were arrested and charged for crimes they had yet to commit, while this system simply gives stores better information on which customers they need to keep an eye on. The differences are so pronounced I fail to see why Minority Report even needed to be mentioned.

  5. Perhaps they could extend it by edittard · · Score: 3, Funny

    Where previously a member of staff had to keep an eye out for people, on the crowdsourced Facewatch watch list

    Perhaps they could extend it to check for commas, that don't need to be there.
           

    --
    At the bottom of the /. main page it says 'Yesterday's News'. Well they got that right.
  6. Re:Put a stop to it, now. by U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M · · Score: 4, Funny

    I've seen your face, and I have to agree.