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Singapore patrol robots stoke fears of surveillance state

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Catherine Lai, Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Autonomous robot Xavier patrols a neighborhood mall to detect " behaviors="" social="" src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/reuters/10/06/sg.jpg" undesirable=""/><figcaption>Autonomous robot Xavier patrols a neighborhood mall to detect &quot;undesirable social behaviors&quot;, such as the flouting of COVID-19 safety measures, smoking in prohibited areas and improperly parked bicycles, during a three-week trial in Singapore September 6, 2021. <em>Edgar Su, Reuters</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>SINGAPORE - Singapore has trialed patrol robots that blast warnings at people engaging in &quot;undesirable social behavior&quot;, adding to an arsenal of surveillance technology in the tightly controlled city-state that is fueling privacy concerns.</p><p>From vast numbers of CCTV cameras to trials of lampposts kitted out with facial recognition tech, Singapore is seeing an explosion of tools to track its inhabitants.</p><p>Officials have long pushed a vision of a hyper-efficient, tech-driven &quot;smart nation&quot;, but activists say privacy is being sacrificed and people have little control over what happens to their data.</p><p>Singapore is frequently criticized for curbing civil liberties and people are accustomed to tight controls, but there is still growing unease at intrusive tech.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/05/21/20/robot-dog-on-virus-park-patrol-in-singapore">Robot dog on virus park patrol in Singapore</a></li></ul><p>The government&#x27;s latest surveillance devices are robots on wheels, with seven cameras, that issue warnings to the public and detect &quot;undesirable social behavior&quot;.</p><p>This includes smoking in prohibited areas, improperly parking bicycles, and breaching coronavirus social-distancing rules.</p><p>During a recent patrol, one of the &quot;Xavier&quot; robots wove its way through a housing estate and stopped in front of a group of elderly residents watching a chess match.</p><p>&quot;Please keep one-meter distancing, please keep to five persons per group,&quot; a robotic voice blared out, as a camera on top of the machine trained its gaze on them.</p><p>During a three-week trial in September, two robots were deployed to patrol the housing estate and a shopping center.</p><p>&quot;It reminds me of Robocop,&quot; said Frannie Teo, a 34-year-old research assistant, who was walking through the mall.</p><p>It brings to mind a &quot;dystopian world of robots... I&#x27;m just a bit hesitant about that kind of concept&quot;, she added.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/04/17/20/singapore-disinfecting-robot-trialed-in-virus-fight">Singapore disinfecting robot trialed in virus fight</a></li></ul><div><strong>&#x27;NO CONSTRAINTS&#x27;</strong></div><p>Digital rights activist Lee Yi Ting said the devices were the latest way Singaporeans were being watched.</p><p>&quot;It all contributes to the sense people... need to watch what they say and what they do in Singapore to a far greater extent than they would in other countries,&quot; she told AFP.</p><p>But the government defended its use of robots, saying they were not being used to identify or take action against offenders during the tech&#x27;s trial, and were needed to address a labor crunch as the population ages.</p><p>&quot;The workforce is actually shrinking,&quot; said Ong Ka Hing, from the government agency that developed the Xavier robots, adding they could help reduce the number of officers needed for foot patrols.</p><p>The island of about 5.5 million people has 90,000 police cameras, a number set to double by 2030, and facial recognition tech -- which helps authorities pick out faces in a crowd -- may be installed on lampposts across the city.</p><p>There was a rare public backlash this year when authorities admitted coronavirus contract-tracing data collected by an official system had been accessed by police. The government later passed legislation to limit its use.</p><p>But critics say the city-state&#x27;s laws generally put few limitations on government surveillance, and Singaporeans have little control over what happens to the data collected.</p><p>&quot;There are no privacy law constraints on what the government can or cannot do,&quot; said Indulekshmi Rajeswari, a privacy lawyer from Singapore who is now based in Germany.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1690076" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

Singapore has trialed patrol robots that blast warnings at people engaging in 'undesirable social behavior', adding to an arsenal of surveillance technology in the tightly controlled city-state that is fueling privacy concerns.

Singapore patrol robots stoke fears of surveillance state

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Singapore patrol robots stoke fears of surveillance state

Catherine Lai,

Agence France-Presse

Published Oct 06, 2021 11:20 AM PHT

Read More:

Singapore

patrol robot

surveillance

Xavier

COVID-19 protocols

social behavior

CCTV

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