Comment by mothballed

4 months ago

Reminds me of the school 'vape detectors' that can also be programmed to listen for "loud noises" and "keywords" but basically handwave away the fact it violates wiretapping laws because they're claiming they're basically doing pattern matching on RAM buffered audio then dumping it.

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mothballed

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crtasm  4 months ago

Do you have a link to an analysis of one of these?

  • mothballed  4 months ago

    https://halodetect.com/

    Look at "spoken keyword" and "gunshot" for instance

    • godelski  4 months ago

      Direct link for easier access: https://halodetect.com/capability/emergency-keyword/

        How does keyword detection work?
  HALO Smart Sensor listens for preloaded distress keywords and triggers real-time alerts when detected, ensuring quick emergency response without recording conversations.

  What keywords can HALO detect? 
  HALO Smart Sensor comes preloaded with distress keywords and can be updated with additional phrases to fit specific security needs.

  Does HALO record conversations? 
  No, HALO Smart Sensor ensures privacy by only detecting keywords and aggression patterns without recording audio or storing voice data.

      Quite vague... and seems ripe for abuse

      I can understand if there were emergency keywords like yelling "Help" or "Call 911" and extremely limited phrases like that. Essentially a voice activated fire alarm. But uploading new keywords and not being explicit of what keywords trigger the thing is really not a good look. If you can upload arbitrary words then there is no meaningful difference between spying. The thing has an occupancy sensor and it's not like it is hard to combine that data with camera data. What are the keywords? If a kid talks about someone else smoking a joint does that trigger the system? Where are kids going to get some safe place to talk about things without fear of surveillance?

      The words keywords being hidden just furthers concerns of surveillance. If you can't know what words you can't use then you have to be very cautious with your speech, least you set off false positives and get in trouble. This really is too far.

      HOLY FUCK! THEY *SUGGEST* YOU INSTALL THESE THINGS IN BATHROOMS! How is anyone okay with that? It's way more than a smoke detector! https://halodetect.com/blog/school-bathroom-vandalism/

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