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Face Recognition Is Now Being Used In Schools (theintercept.com)
Presto Vivace shares a report from The Intercept: Officials at the Lockport, New York, school district have purchased face recognition technology as part of a purported effort to prevent school shootings. Starting in September, all 10 of Lockport District's school buildings, just north of Buffalo, will be outfitted with a surveillance system that can identify faces and objects. The software, known as Aegis, was developed by SN Technologies Corp., a Canadian biometrics firm that specifically advertises to schools. It can be used to alert officials to whenever sex offenders, suspended students, fired employees, suspected gang members, or anyone else placed on a school's "blacklist" enters the premises. Aegis also sends alerts any time one of the "top 10" most popular guns used in school shootings appears in view of a camera. The district is spending most of its recent $4 million state "Smart School" grant on these and other enhancements to its security systems, including bullet-proof greeter windows and a mass notification system, according to the Niagra Gazette. Slashdot reader Presto Vivace adds: "This is why municipal elections are so important. Just because this stuff is on the market, does not mean your local school system has to buy it."
The report notes that "all the major school shootings in the last five years in the U.S. have been carried out by current students or alumnae of the school in question." These students wouldn't have their face entered into the face recognition system's blacklist. Furthermore, "Most shooters don't brandish their guns before opening fire; and by the time they do, an object-detection algorithm that could specify the exact type of weapon they're firing would not be of much use," reports The Intercept. "... the technology would give a school, at best, only a few extra seconds in response time to a shooting."
The report notes that "all the major school shootings in the last five years in the U.S. have been carried out by current students or alumnae of the school in question." These students wouldn't have their face entered into the face recognition system's blacklist. Furthermore, "Most shooters don't brandish their guns before opening fire; and by the time they do, an object-detection algorithm that could specify the exact type of weapon they're firing would not be of much use," reports The Intercept. "... the technology would give a school, at best, only a few extra seconds in response time to a shooting."
gun control in the United States. School shooters are a profit center. Instead of spending money on teaches and classroom supplies we are spending money on security theater. If we ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines, as they have done in Australia, we could protect school children and the rest of us.
Well if you don't like it, amend or abolish the 2nd Amendment. Seriously, that's a good idea, do it.
But in the mean time, people need to stop pretending that ignoring and gutting the intent of it doesn't lay the groundwork for even more gutting and ignoring of the other, more popular rights.
Happens when you don't make it nationwide like in Australia.
Also, for school shootings it isn't so much that it is possible to acquire guns legally or illegally that is the problem.
Neither gun stores nor criminals are likely to sell guns to school children. (Yep, even your gang members have morals, they just differs from what the law says.)
The issue is a gun culture that makes it acceptable to store guns in a way that every curious child knows how to get hold of dads guns.
Where I live any gun owner would never leave a gun unattended.
If you are cleaning it and have to leave the room you take the bolt with you to make sure the gun isn't usable if stolen.
Same thing if you are transporting it somewhere and can't keep it in a locked container.
We also don't have school shootings. I don't think any kid at my school even had the faintest clue in how to get a hold of a gun.
You can't expect children to be responsible with guns if the adults aren't responsible with guns.
Another thing is that guns favors the aggressor. Any solution that relies on shooting the shooter means that you tolerate one or several innocents shot before the aggressor is dealt with.
Violence as a deterrent doesn't work that well if the aggressor doesn't expect to get out of it alive to begin with.
When I hear these stories out of the USA about how to prevent school shootings I don't know whether to laugh or cry. But I think it's mostly cry.
...and spare me the "Canada is different" argument. Culturally, Canada and the USA are very, very similar.
I live in Canada.
When my kids go to school they don't go through metal detectors or deal with facial recognition. Their backpacks aren't transparent and the only 'drills' they do are for earthquake and fire. There are no bullet-proof shelters in their classroom, no armed guards at the school and no debate about arming teachers.
Why? Because Canada HAS GUN CONTROL.
Get your act together, America. Protect your kids.