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Here’s How Knightscope’s Security Robots Surveil the Public
OneZero obtained a presentation that reveals how Knightscope uses facial recognition and license plate readers to track individuals
Knightscope, the company behind the robot that famously killed itself by falling into a Washington, D.C. office center pond, sells robots to automate surveillance. Since 2015, the company has rented out its security robots to police and private institutions like hospitals and casinos.
These robots, which range from stationary kiosks to roving bulbous obelisks on wheels, collect immense amounts of data using tools such as facial recognition, automatic license plate readers, and wireless device detection. OneZero has obtained a previously unreported Knightscope presentation that shows just how much data Knightscope robots can collect.
The slides—presented in full at the bottom of this piece—were presented to the city council of Huntington Park, CA, in June 2019. The city signed a $240,000 contract to lease a Knightscope robot for three years in November 2018, according to documents obtained through a public records request. Emails from the Huntington Park police department detail the minutiae of employing Knightscope robot, like an extra $1,000 to $2,000 charge to transport the…
