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How hard would it be to create a community network of crappy microphones to do what shotspotter does? You have a million phones that all have gps and microphone
by avh02 5y ago
How hard would it be to create a community network of crappy microphones to do what shotspotter does? You have a million phones that all have gps and microphones
- Vaslo 5y agoOh man the privacy folks are gonna hammer this comment hard.
- Retric 5y agoI don’t think people firing guns have a reasonable expectation of privacy. Voluntarily submitting cellphone data is already used for several things like traffic congestion via Waze and related apps. I am vary pro privacy, but as long as it’s voluntary I don’t have an issue with this.
- rspeele 5y agoIt would depend strongly on whether the phone is analyzing the data from the mic and reporting to a server "possible gunshot heard, GPS coords X,Y, volume-level 60%, gunshot-like-score 75%" or whether the phone is sending raw recordings from the mic to a server and trusting that the server is only checking them for gunshot sound (not, say, saving your private conversations). And of course it's difficult for the average user of an app to tell the difference, or even for a tech savvy user to tell without investing some time and effort.
- avh02 5y agoI'd not put that on my primary device either, maybe leave a spare plugged in near an open window, etc
- jaegerpicker 5y agoYes hopefully all the analysis would happen on device but that limits anything like a google home/alexa. Last I looked neither device allowed processing on device.
- Retric 5y agoI am going to assume significant processing would need to happen on the device or your uploading audio 24/7 which would have heavy bandwidth implications. I don’t think uploading individual sub 2 second sound clips with time stamps is significant from a privacy standpoint, but it might be in the middle of a long gunfight.
- jaegerpicker 5y agoI'm a huge privacy advocate but it makes some sense. If the police and government is corrupt and using this tech, creating a non-corrupt open-source community driven alternative to combat the corruption is probably a net win despite the privacy issues. The real win is to destroy the Police surveillance state and tech but we as a people (the US) seem incapable of real policing change. :(
- adrr 5y agoThere are also the home assistance devices like Amazon Echos that have an always on Mic. Amazon could be a huge surveillance network for police with Ring video feed and a shot spotter network of echo devices if they went down that road.
- kawfey 5y agoIf i was a programmer, I would be making this. a small alexa-like array of microphones on a RasPi for rough direction estimate, times a bunch of networked units microphones to get precise-ish TDoA, mounted on rooftops... I've always wanted to do this to record and report on the number of gunshots I hear every night - hundreds go unreported - and to get an accurate direction less prone to reflections. Also to start an ML library to recognize thunder vs. fireworks vs. dumpster lids vs. planks of lumber vs. misfires vs. gunshots and other percussive noises.
- PhantomGremlin 5y agoI've always wanted to do this to record and report on the number of gunshots I hear every night - hundreds go unreported If I were you, I'd expend 100% of my efforts into figuring out how to move to a safer neighborhood. Despite all the news reports, in many cities in the USA people can and do live their entire lives without hearing a single gunshot.
- genewitch 5y agoAnd some places in the US hearing a gunshot isn't a cause for concern. People sighting in their hunting rifles, plinking cans, whatever.
- __MatrixMan__ 5y agoIf it meant an increased likelihood of catching the cops in a lie, I'd host such a device on my roof. I'd just want an easy way to audit the outbound data so I could become confident that it was only recording cases of: "Holy crap that was an EXPLOSION" and not recording cases of: "Did you hear what that guy said in his back yard?" It's not like anybody creating explosions has a reasonable right to privacy. Everybody heard it, it might as well be public record. This would just add timestamps.
- ghostbrainalpha 5y agoHow would the phone differentiate between real gun shots, and the gun shot noises my phone hears every day from the Television I watch, or video games I play?
- avh02 5y agoYou'd have to corroborate with the network I guess
- genewitch 5y agotelevision and video game gunshots don't sound like gunshots, nor do they meet the pressure threshold that a gunshot does. But rather than argue that particular aspect, just have it be "off" when it's connected to wifi or moving faster than 30MPH.