Robotic Surveillance in Singapore: Be Careful What You Agree to During Covid

The Straits Times of Singapore reports that

A four-legged robot will be patrolling Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park to remind people of safe distancing measures starting from Friday (May 8). Called Spot, the robot will assist with safe distancing efforts at parks, gardens and nature reserves managed by National Parks Board (NParks) and at parks managed by town councils.

Sound cute? Useful? Maybe even essential for your own city? It is none of these things. It is the line in the sand in terms of surveillance. The last thing we need is robots clunking around, instructing and monitoring us, justified by the pandemic, when there are already passive CCTV cameras watching what most of us do.
Speaking of cameras, “Spot” is fitted with cameras to "help it estimate the number of visitors in the parks.” The writer of the article assures us that “The cameras … will not be able to track or recognise specific individuals, neither will it collect any personal data.” Sure, but how long before it is useful to recognise specific individuals – for essential contact tracing, of course.
As if that wasn’t enough, “NParks is also deploying 30 drones to detect visitorship at selected parks and nature areas.” Don’t let the curtain twitchers and the quiveratti demand more supervision in the name of health. Read more.

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