Smart home security could have real impacts on privacy, racial profiling | CBC Radio Skip to Main Content Menu Search Search Sign In Quick Links News Sports Radio Music Listen Live TV Watch COVID-19 Local updates Watch live COVID-19 tracker Vaccine tracker Top Stories Shows Podcasts Schedules Frequency LISTEN LIVE SparkSmart home security could have real impacts on privacy, racial profiling Amazon and Google have made a hard push into the home security market, but civilian surveillance could have real impacts on privacy and racial profiling. Social Sharing Will big tech's smart doorbells ring in a new surveillance state? CBC Radio · Posted: Jun 14, 2019 3:32 PM ET | Last Updated: June 14, 2019 Amazon and Google are getting into the home security business. What does this mean for consumers and privacy? (Adam KIllick/CBC) comments Spark22:49Smart home security could have real impacts on privacy, racial profiling Would you trust an algorithm to point out suspicious people in your neighbourhood? That's where new technologies from Amazon and Google appear to be headed, as the tech giants establish their presence in the home security market. Google's "Nest Hello" is a smart doorbell that stores video constantly and uses facial recognition technology. And Amazon has released the "Alexa Guard" app in the U.S. that will use existing Alexa devices to listen for potential break-ins. "Home security is the number one reason people buy smart home products," Stacey Higginbotham, host of the Internet of Things podcast, told Spark host Nora Young. Stacey Higginbotham She added that the home security aspect is also a way for companies like Google and Amazon to get in (or on) the door of homes where owners don't see a need for a smart speaker or similar device. "It's a very different thing to stick a camera that's facing outward on your house, and use that to track what's going on in your neighborhood. That is much less concerning to most consumers, but then it does open up a whole lot of new services for these providers," she said. But it's those outward-looking cameras—and what they do with what they see—that has Chris Gilliard concerned. He's a professor at Macomb Community College in Michigan, and his research focuses on how data mining and algorithmic decision making can reproduce discrimination. Amazon's smart doorbell, called "Ring," has a companion app called "Neighbors."  It lets users share and comment on security concerns in their area and even share video footage which often comes from the doorbell's camera. Moreover, Ring has been advertising for a "news editor." The news editor would head up a team to "deliver breaking crime news alerts to our neighbours." And there have been reports that police departments in a number of U.S. cities have been offering free or discounted Ring doorbells to communities. Chris Gilliard (Blaine Siesser ) "I'm concerned about the move to a 'more surveillance' society. I don't think that more cameras equals more safety; In fact I think the inverse is true, that for marginalized communities that more cameras often mean less safety," Gilliard said. He pointed to examples where people of colour have been targeted by residents or police simply for being in an area that is predominantly white. "I think there is a very significant difference between a device or a system that alerts someone when an entrance has been breached—you know when the door's open when it's not supposed to be open... to a system that is constantly watching and listening, picking up all kinds of signals."   More from this episode Smart home security could have real impacts on privacy, racial profiling Beloved by music nerds, the synthesizer keeps on evolving The stress of messaging app overload 'Pose' star helps empower trans people in tech FULL EPISODE: Spark 443 Comments To encourage thoughtful and respectful conversations, first and last names will appear with each submission to CBC/Radio-Canada's online communities (except in children and youth-oriented communities). Pseudonyms will no longer be permitted. By submitting a comment, you accept that CBC has the right to reproduce and publish that comment in whole or in part, in any manner CBC chooses. 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