5 Major Technological Advancements In Public Safety & Security

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Facebook began as a college dorm project wherein Mark Zuckerburg was trying to connect campuses together to meet new people. Who knew that a young college entrepreneur would control one of the most controversial websites in the public safety and personal information sector?

Websites like Facebook, Google and Instagram receive billions of pieces of information such as dates of birth, emails, phone numbers, websites you visit, personal posts with geolocation, and much more than you can even imagine. Since the number of users is consistently growing, the data collection capabilities are regularly upgraded. This has led to the public questioning the representatives of these online platforms regarding the purpose of collecting data and the different use cases of their personal information.

In this article, I will explain some of the technological advancements in public safety and security and how they are used to ultimately protect civilians and their information.

Advancements In Video Surveillance

Video surveillance systems have witnessed evolution in such a short span of time. Now, people are worried because they fear laptop web cameras and mobile front cameras could be used to spy on them.

Ironically, the use of video surveillance in public spaces has always been suggested. There’s really no need for that feeling of insecurity anymore.

You may easily spot surveillance cameras at drive-thru windows or supermarkets to capture every face that goes by. Videos are kept in a central database and later reviewed for investigations or screening of potential public safety threats.

Also, most major cities have surveillance cameras set up at busy intersections, tourist destinations, etc. to allow the local police and authorities to monitor public spaces as well as compile evidence should a crime or tragedy happen.

Advancements In Access Control Systems

Another technological advancement is integrated access control systems. Now, there are doorbell cameras that secretly record every sign of movement in front of a property and let the owner monitor any activity on a portable device. Door locks are equipped with fingerprint sensors or codes for each family member. Likewise, large corporations and luxury apartment buildings have access key cards with digital chips tracking the time you unlocked the door.

Despite the fact that access control systems protect compounds from security breaches, these aren’t entirely foolproof. They are still susceptible to hackers and can be neutralized in an instant which leaves room for the burglars to infiltrate the areas.

This calls for hiring professionally qualified security guards because these guys would identify loopholes in the system, detect threats, observe the premises and report each and every activity. However, they would have to be briefed by showing appropriate training videos on how the system works.

Different systems have varying levels of complexity but a properly trained officer would have the prerequisite knowledge to grasp the concepts and the working principles. These systems should be set up in a way that only a few trusted, elite security officers have the authorized rights to grant or revoke access to various people in the organization. Basically, they serve the purpose of a system admin in a corporate world.

Evolution Of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) has proven so many of us wrong and it’s certainly the next big breakthrough in humanity (or is it?). Anyway, an AI algorithm may be able to look at data points which may seem unrelated and connect it to a crime or suspect in seconds, based on raw video footage alone.

AI is being utilized in major business sectors such as healthcare, mobility, and financial services. However, large-scale expansion occurs when AI is combined with machine learning and marketing. Elsewhere, AI is being used to run website chatbots, and the ability to make use of it to create dynamic ads or landing pages based on past user interaction is equally rewarding.

Advancements In Drone Technology

The biggest technological advancement in drones has been that of remote piloted and autonomous drones. In the most advanced cases, these drones can sort of “think” for themselves given an expected outcome and a target.

Drones are not only being used for public safety by the police and fire departments, but they’re also being used in the retail and food space to deliver everything from Amazon purchases to pizza.

Cyber Security & Cryptocurrency

The biggest cybersecurity advancement has happened indirectly through cryptocurrency. In real life, there is no way to track each and every single coin or euro that has already been spent, but with cryptocurrency, there is no central market and since it’s based on the blockchain technology, it’s possible to determine whether a Bitcoin transaction is valid or not.

Despite all the controversies about the bubble popping, companies are investing in cryptocurrency and at the same time, trying to assimilate the blockchain technology and create their own altcoins.

A Boon Or A Curse?

So, I’ve covered five of the most important technological advancements in public safety. Naturally, people become vacillated when large corporations are in the limelight for the wrong reasons and they give out vague answers to questions related to cybersecurity.

These corporations usually get away with a few statements of reassurance but in reality, there are hundreds of ways for our information to be stolen on and off the web. The advancements that we will continue to see will always be two-sided and safeguard us from the threats, but they are usually created in the interest of who they are protecting.

 

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