4 ms·

Buildings equipped with an access control system makes it easy to track where users are. That's even a feature ; for instance when an emergency evacuation happe

Buildings equipped with an access control system makes it easy to track where users are. That's even a feature ; for instance when an emergency evacuation happens (e.g. fire alarm), the system can tell you if there's still someone in there (assuming the fire has not destroyed parts of the system). Although one should assume nowadays that a public network is the same thing as a public street, and that using the LAN of a school is the same thing as walking on its campus, it is indeed disturbing that some people within those org (and the org itself) have some of the possibilities as police has - except that police would need a judge and a mandate in some cases. So as always there are pros and cons. Good uses and evil uses. In Europe, GDPR laws mandate that not every admin or user of the system have access to this type of data, and that's a good start IMO.

sokoloff 6y ago
Access control without mantraps doesn’t give you a clear list of who’s inside in an emergency. Tailgating is the norm for such systems, so the best you can answer is “what’s the subset of people who might be inside?” With both type 1 and type 2 errors.
- astrobe_ 6y ago
  Mantraps or similar significantly slowdown the flow, which is an inconvenience. Only big buildings or plants with strict security/safety constrains invest in multiple mantraps at entrances. Anything else - or even proper poorly done mantraps that can be gamed - are imperfect it is understood that this feature of the access control system is a support feature, not a guarantee. As I mentioned, a disaster can compromise the working of the system directly, and people may forcefully bypass restrictions (e.g. get out by windows), so you are correct that it only tells who might still be inside. However coupled with other features (e.g. marking users that are on vacation and therefore who are not allowed to be there) can also tell you who cannot be inside.

sokoloff 6y ago

Access control without mantraps doesn’t give you a clear list of who’s inside in an emergency. Tailgating is the norm for such systems, so the best you can answer is “what’s the subset of people who might be inside?” With both type 1 and type 2 errors.

astrobe_ 6y ago
Mantraps or similar significantly slowdown the flow, which is an inconvenience. Only big buildings or plants with strict security/safety constrains invest in multiple mantraps at entrances. Anything else - or even proper poorly done mantraps that can be gamed - are imperfect it is understood that this feature of the access control system is a support feature, not a guarantee. As I mentioned, a disaster can compromise the working of the system directly, and people may forcefully bypass restrictions (e.g. get out by windows), so you are correct that it only tells who might still be inside. However coupled with other features (e.g. marking users that are on vacation and therefore who are not allowed to be there) can also tell you who cannot be inside.