A company known for cellphones is fast becoming a major player in government surveillance

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Motorola, a brand typically associated with cellphones and police radios, has joined the race among tech firms to deliver new ways of monitoring the public.

Using artificial intelligence to analyze footage from the nation’s ever-growing networks of surveillance cameras helps police agencies do their jobs more efficiently — it saves time sifting for evidence, and allows easy redaction of people’s faces from footage that is released to the public. Authorities now use facial recognition, from murder to shoplifting. License plate readers have been used to recover stolen cars, solve drive-by shootings and track down serial burglars, police say.

Avigilon Appearance Search technology allows users to search for a person by selecting physical descriptions, including hair and clothing color, gender and age.“Whatever tools are available to provide a safe environment for our students and staff I think it’s our obligation to explore,” said Mickey Hall, Wilson County Schools’ deputy director.

But the technology also raises the risk of the government and private corporations amassing too much power to peer into people’s lives, Stanley, of the ACLU, said. Once a person is targeted for this kind of surveillance, whether they are suspected in a crime, hold unpopular political views or have been mistaken for someone else, authorities can examine where they’ve been and may find something incriminating, Stanley said.

Keith Housum, an analyst who follows Motorola Solutions at the equity research firm Northcoast Research, said its recent surveillance-related acquisitions comprise a small fraction of the company’s operations but have helped boost its stock price, as investors see it as pursuing new revenue sources.

 

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Motorola of old is dead. Google bought out of bankruptcy and sold after losing money on it. Motorola of today is a Chinese company.

Cancelled

Look carefully, it's Motorola, not Nokia!!

🤨

Bernie2020 ✊❤🔥

The Orwellian realization of the dystopian nightmare 9/11 set in motion...fuck a world where privacy takes a backseat to high-tech policing😒

Motorola was a-if-not-the major provider of law enforcement communication gear since before there was such a thing as a cell phone. Their relationship with government is ancient, so this isn’t that much of a surprise.

See what happens when you stop buying flip phones people!!!

jonschuppe Smile Army satellite

jonschuppe Motorola, the company that brought you the radio that powers your cellphone now brining you the privacy free dystopia that powers their fascism. Because capitalism doesn't care.

jonschuppe If you don’t break the law, it doesn’t matter.

jonschuppe Since 2017, the Chicago-based tech company has invested $1.7B to support or acquire companies that build police body cameras; train cameras to spot certain faces or behavior; sift through video for suspicious people; and track the movement of cars by their license plates. (2/4)

jonschuppe RUT-RO!

jonschuppe Since 2017, the Chicago-based tech company has invested $1.7B to support or acquire companies that build police body cameras; train cameras to spot certain faces or behavior; sift through video for suspicious people; and track the movement of cars by their license plates. (2/4)

They’ll binge watch people now

Google owns Motorola. Not unexpected.

I expected them to monitor people that are gangs or criminals that are in the hood

Motorola provided the entire NYFD with phones. Motorola's phones did not work in the Twin Towers. On 9/11. How can anyone forget?

This is the new arms race. Everyone who is anyone wants a chnk of the srvillnce pie. And if it empowers d1ctator1al ambitions, community profiling, xxtrajudicl nd exec. overreach.. well, those r the things 'keepin us safe' as we fight for life, liberty and..

Happy, not happy. Better Motorola then Huawei. Is that correct?

I don’t really like privacy invasions, but we need help.

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