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gait recognition

surveillance with cameras on the streets? nothing new.
going beyond the power of video equipment based on earth, gait recognition uses satellite imagery to recognize and trace a person by the way they walk.

###HOW TO AVOID:

never walk in sunshine (avoid having a shadow);
carry an umbrella;
walk silly;
ride a bike;

speed cameras

Cameras installed on high-ways and roads where drivers are expected to drive very fast, allow police to track the cars going over the speed limit by taking photos of their license plates and then matching the image to the number. This way, they end up simply sending you a bill without stopping the traffic and having to keep policemen on the street.


photo courtesy of Chriszwolle

###HOW TO AVOID

install very bright LEDs around your plate, making it impossible to photograph the number;
use photo blocker spray (http://www.motorshop1.co.uk/photoblocker.htm);
install a slave-flash, triggered when you are at risk, overexposing the photograph;

pink light

Pink lights have recently appeared as a measure against teenage loitering, because they are supposed to highlight skin blemishes. When they were first installed by a resident’s association in Mansfield, UK in 2006, even though many sarcastic views were expressed in media, to the Mansfield residents it seemed like a cheap and doable solution.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/lancashire/6197652.stm

blue light

Blue neon lights were successfully used in public bathrooms and publicly accessible toilets, as a means of preventing drug users from injecting themselves. Because it makes veins harder to see, it is expected that drug users will stop using these bathrooms for the aforementioned purpose.

Blue lights used in the public toilet in The Hague City Hall; men's toilet

Blue lights used in the public toilet in The Hague City Hall; women's toilet


further reading:

http://www.theargus.co.uk/archive/1999/02/18/The+Argus+Archive/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/cambridgeshire/3147170.stm

the mosquito device

The Mosquito device functions as a high frequency buzz (17,4KHz) is employed to keep away teenagers from gathering in publicly accessible spaces like shopping malls, street corners, courtyards, etc. Mosquito is supposed to target specifically the population under 25. Unlike their older cohabitants, the young population should be able to hear the repelling sound buzz at 5 dB above background noise levels. In practice this age border does not function exactly as intended.
The Mosquito device patented in 2005 by Howard Stapleton, was installed in the last few years in numerous spots in European and American cities, where young people would gather and exhibit the so-called ‘anti social behaviour’.

It turned out some older (more than 25 years old) people can hear the tone but at the same time not all teenagers can hear it. It became popular amongst teenagers as a ring tone for cell phones during classes, especially the ones given by elderly teachers.

Mosquito devices mounted on a street light pole in downtown Chicago; courtesy of Dave Hoffman

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_mosquito

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/south_east/4415318.stm

CCTV enhanced

A lot of debate has been going on around closed circuit video surveillance in cities, since the mid 1980s when they became regularly introduced in US and later the UK. Simple video surveillance is today often equipped with facial recognition and motion tracking, to make more efficient use of the system. With the excuse of the ‘war on terrorism’, enhanced video surveillance systems have been deployed at airports, massive(sports) events, and night clubs.

(more…)

Dataveillance

— n
the surveillance of a person’s activities by studying the data trail created by actions such as credit card purchases, mobile phone calls, and internet use

from: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/dataveillance

As the authors of Net Locality* define it:

“Surveillance is more than just hidden cameras and undercover police officers; environments track us through our voluntary exposure of personal data”

“location-aware devices normalize data-veillance and make it a necessary component of our everyday interactions with the web”

* Gordon, E., & de Souza e Silva, A. (2011). Net Locality. The handbook of internet studies. Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell. doi:10.1002/9781444340679. p. 11