Do Modern Surveillance Systems Actually Help Keep Us All Safer?

Surveillance and Security Are Now Synonymous 

Surveillance is hardly a new or novel concept. Long before doorbell cameras and home security systems entered the mass-consumer market, the corner convenience store had been equipped with video surveillance systems. Previously, security personnel would walk the corridors of shopping malls and sports arenas to protect guests and serve as a deterrent to theft and conflict. Those installations no longer feel like an invasion of privacy (if they ever did) because we understand their purpose and consider them a reasonable concession to keep the peace. 

As video technology has improved, become more affordable and grown increasingly ubiquitous in our everyday lives, most of us agree: the feeling of being watched — constantly and from every angle — while going about our daily routines is creepy. But there’s an irony here that the average person may not realize: It’s because of the continued development of that technology, and because of the busy daily routines of every other average citizen, that the likelihood of another person actually observing you via video surveillance is close to zero. 

You’re More Anonymous Than You Think 

Think of your typical day: long commute to work, eight hours at the office, a grocery run on the way home, making dinner, putting the kids to bed and maybe even taking a nice bath before catching a few winks and doing it all over again. Not much time for culling through the recorded video footage of your doorbell camera, is there? That’s also the case for your next-door neighbor, everyone else on your block and, frankly, your entire community. The vast majority of people with personal surveillance technology consult it only after suspicious activity or a crime has occurred – the same reason you might have one installed in your own home. 

Even today’s security personnel – from your homeowner’s association guards to local law enforcement – spend very little time, relatively speaking, consulting the immense volume of video footage collected by their organizations’ surveillance systems. With the advent of artificial intelligence and its deep-learning capabilities, modern surveillance has become more effective while requiring far less active engagement from humans. Whether you’re grabbing a gallon of milk, trying on a pair of shoes or taking your seat to watch your favorite band in concert, you aren’t actually being watched. 

Safer Communities, Fewer ‘Prying Eyes’ 

The chief concern most of us have with modern surveillance and the proliferation of video-enabled security systems is the potential invasion of privacy. However, once we consider how technology is improving the effectiveness of surveillance while simultaneously reducing the necessary amount of human involvement, I think we will seamlessly adjust to these new circumstances.  

For instance, modern surveillance systems that are empowered with AI-based video content analytics engines are designed to filter through footage and provide law enforcement and security personnel with real-time alerts based on relevant triggers. Therefore, when a limited-occupancy section in a stadium becomes overcrowded or unauthorized personnel enter a restricted area of a hospital, authorities receive instant notifications from these systems — which only pull relevant footage — to dramatically reduce time-to-target, prevent injuries and even save lives. 

The learning models of modern surveillance systems identify patterns and constantly self-refine relevant inputs, helping law enforcement and security agencies react to the prompts that matter. And with the continued improvement of automated recognition in modern surveillance systems, more finely targeted human responses will require increasingly less broad human oversight. Once we begin thinking of the cameras around us as the agenda-less technology they are – filters of significant objects and activities, rather than prying eyes – we’ll be both safer and more satisfied with the role video surveillance plays in our world. 

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