Tracking and monitoring for security purposes isn’t a new concept, it has been there for the past 2 decades, and the technology has only gotten better lately. Call tracing, CCTV monitoring, facial recognition, image tracking are some of the examples. Some may argue that its advantages don’t outweigh the disadvantages, which shall be discussed here.
Modern tracking technology has helped reduce crime by a significant margin over the past few years. With the latest developments in AI, it is now faster to find and identify individuals involved in criminal activities. It has significantly help maintain law and order also. The state of Chandigarh, India, is a great example of such a use case. The traffic police has automated the process of challan though speed tracking radars and image based number plate identification. Citizens breaking traffic laws are provided with their fines containing an image proof of them caught in the act. This has reduced road accidents involving pedestrians and over-speeding.
Use of AI has also help fast-track queues in public places, especially at airports. Introduction of Digiyatra, an Indian startup that helps airport process passenger entry, has reduced wait times by half.
However, such technology also raises concerns for right to privacy and the breach of personal information. A camera capturing your facial image may raise questions like, how the images are being used? Are they being used only for the sole purpose of identifying a person? Are these images stored in a database? If yes, what if there is a breach in the system that allows bad actors to use these images for committing crime?
With every technology, there are outliers which question the entire justification for it. But, in this case, the advantages do outweigh the disadvantages. And with better cyber security measures, the drawbacks may eventually fade away in the near future.