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- cross-posted to:
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Serve Robotics, which delivers food for Uber Eats, provided footage filmed by at least one of its robots to the LAPD as evidence in a criminal case. The emails show the robots, which are a constant sight in the city, can be used for surveillance.
A food delivery robot company that delivers for Uber Eats in Los Angeles provided video filmed by one of its robots to the Los Angeles Police Department as part of a criminal investigation, 404 Media has learned. The incident highlights the fact that delivery robots that are being deployed to sidewalks all around the country are essentially always filming, and that their footage can and has been used as evidence in criminal trials. Emails obtained by 404 Media also show that the robot food delivery company wanted to work more closely with the LAPD, which jumped at the opportunity.
The specific incident in question was a grand larceny case where two men tried (and failed) to steal a robot owned and operated by Serve Robotics, which ultimately wants to deploy “up to 2,000 robots” to deliver food for UberEats in Los Angeles. The suspects were arrested and convicted.
archive: https://archive.ph/997sA
So someone tried to steal one of the robots, and the robot company was keen to give the footage to the cops?
There’s a lot of potential for fuckery here, but dishonestly spinning this non-issue to look like some kind of crisis distracts from real problems with privacy and the police. Hack “journalists”.
This specific case is like saying someone tried to steal your car that had a dash cam in it and you agreed to send the footage to the police.
Yeah they really buried some critical information on this one. I get the point of the article about general surveillance but when people feel tricked they get burned out on the issue and trust the media less. They could have made the point they wanted without making it clickbait.