what are the Dutch up to?

[JackLuis]

"Privacy rights advocates and civil liberties campaigners in Europe are raising the alarm about a new surveillance system that monitors conversations in public.

The surveillance system, dubbed Sigard, has been installed in Dutch city centers, government offices and prisons, and a recent test-run of the technology in Coventry, England, has British civil rights experts worried that the right to privacy will disappear in efforts to fight street crime.

The system's manufacturer, Sound Intelligence, says it works by detecting aggression in speech patterns."

That would work well in Manhattan.

Big Brother is watching YOU!​

 

[Liar]

Net result: Politer muggers. Awesome.

 

[R. Richard]

The system's manufacturer, Sound Intelligence, says it works by detecting aggression in speech patterns."

That would work well in Manhattan.

I lived in NYC and worked in Manhattan. If you live or work in Manhattan and DON'T have an aggresssive speech pattern, people take you for a namby-pamby tourist. Witoutadout this is the dumbest idea I ever heard. You think you gonna put that speech machine in MY Manahattan? Fughedaboutit!

 

[dr_mabeuse]

They're really starting to do some dangerous and scary things with audio technology. A couple of companies have been working on a focused audio technology that can beam sound to a very precise location while leaving it inaudible every place else. Their intention is to use it to beam ads to shoppers who stop in front of store displays or at specific spots in supermarket aisles or for museum exhibits, but you know it's only a matter of time before we're all bombarded with ads and music and rants whenever we walk down a street. The focused sound even works around ear plugs.

An audio "teenager repellent" called The Mosquito is already in use in malls and convenience stores in Europe, It floods an area with irritating high-frequency sound that only younger ears can hear, and keeps teens from congregating. It's supposed to be quite effective, and its legality has been challenged by human rights groups on the grounds that it discriminates by age.

It just makes you wonder. With this kind of control and surveillance technology available, you just know someone's going to use it, either government or business, or both. If you've ever gotten a traffic ticket from a surveillance camera, you know what an infuriating and frightening feeling that is. I don't understand how those things are legal under the Constitution. Don't we have a right to face our accuser in court? How do you do that with a pole-mounted camera?

 

[Liar]

They're really starting to do some dangerous and scary things with audio technology. A couple of companies have been working on a focused audio technology that can beam sound to a very precise location while leaving it inaudible every place else. Their intention is to use it to beam ads to shoppers who stop in front of store displays or at specific spots in supermarket aisles or for museum exhibits, but you know it's only a matter of time before we're all bombarded with ads and music and rants whenever we walk down a street. The focused sound even works around ear plugs.

I've seen, or heard, it in action in a home cinema system. In front of the tv, good sound. One step to the side, nothing. Only problem is with low frequencies. They kind of leak.

Also, imagine it as a crowd control device. You could blast painfully high volume noise at a specific group of people and not disturb anyone else. Point-and click at individuals. A humaner taser, if you will.

 

[driphoney]

I doubt most Dutch or other Euros will be particularly upset over this new level of surveillance. They took mechanical traffic ticketing without a blink (in Germany for sure.) The Brit's, I hear, have one of the world's highest concentrations of CCTV cameras in public places, and don't do much more than roll their eyes. So, voice listening? *shrug*

Traffic cameras were fought here for years, but eventually, run it to court enough times and you'll find an accommodating judge eventually, then you have a precedent . . . and here we are. (Though I'm not really sure how the precedent was set, maybe through state legislation while we slept.) Every year my own city puts up a few more of the things. They were careful in where they placed them. First, at high accident corners, so we all went, "Oh good, maybe the idiots will quit running lights and accidents will go down." Now, nobody notices are cares, they're used to them.

 

[CharleyH]

"Privacy rights advocates and civil liberties campaigners in Europe are raising the alarm about a new surveillance system that monitors conversations in public.

The surveillance system, dubbed Sigard, has been installed in Dutch city centers, government offices and prisons, and a recent test-run of the technology in Coventry, England, has British civil rights experts worried that the right to privacy will disappear in efforts to fight street crime.

The system's manufacturer, Sound Intelligence, says it works by detecting aggression in speech patterns."

That would work well in Manhattan.

Big Brother is watching YOU!​

And here I thought the Dutch had come up with an awesome new strain of pot or won the World Cup before I got the chance to see it. Damn, don't excite me so!

Edit to add ... Bring the pot home, Clockwork Orange!