
Anti-Terror Mode For Phones - codecamper
Probably many of the victims of the Paris attacks were carrying smartphones with high res cameras and microphones.<p>Imagine if (by default) phones would switch to automatic monitoring mode when gunshots &#x2F; explosions are heard.  Statistical analysis could show a sudden jump in these sorts of automatic reports.<p>This seems like a straightforward sort of feature that perhaps may help in reacting to and investigating these sorts of crimes.<p>Something that Google &amp; Apple should step up and create.
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Avalaxy
So every time I'm watching an action movie with my friends, all our phones
will think there is a terrorist attack going on at my place?

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nautical
chicken egg also ... theaters will be big problem , if you are watching a
movie its an issue and if you mark them safe its an issue ... Too much
intelligence required to solve it and its a privacy night mare !

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veddox
That would be a privacy nightmare. Where would all that data be sent to? And
how could you be sure the phone only triggers when there really is an attack
going on? Who would have access to the data? And anyway, isn't it a little
late when the attack is already taking place? (I mean, you want to _prevent_
it happening in the first place, don't you?)

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fabulist
My intuition is that police would prefer hostages behave passively to maximize
their odds of survival.

As problem solvers and technologists it's tempting to think we hold the cards,
but I think this is an example of problem technology does not do well at.
Capabilities for hostages are necessarily capabilities for hostage takers. The
reality is if someone is determined to kill many people, they are going to
succeed.

Maybe we should focus on making life better for the people still around to
enjoy it, and promoting peace and nonviolence in our own communities.

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NameNickHN
> investigating these sorts of crimes

Those are not crimes in the usual sense and it's almost always pretty clear
who did it. And we know what causes terrorism. Statistical analysis isn't
going to help settling political differences.

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Quequau
Yeah. Clearly it's not that the mass surveillance in place in the nations with
advanced economies doesn't actually help prevent terrorist attacks. It's that
there isn't enough mass surveillance.

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veddox
You're absolutely right - a little mass surveillance is a lot of nonsense. For
it to be really effective, it has to blanket everything: emails, phone
conversations, GPS location, the lot.

But would you want to live in a state like that?

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nocatch
Privacy and security aside, trusting this type of information is very
dangerous. Attackers could use this to their advantage by confusing and
misleading authorities.

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codecamper
Oh well.. just a thought. Shot down in flames. :)

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saluki
I think it's a good idea to leverage technology . . . that just might not be
the right idea . . .

How about an app you can choose to run if you're in a
terrorist/robbery/hostage situation. That will allow the authorities to use
your mic and cameras to get a picture of what is going on.

How about using interconnected sensors (around towns/large crowd areas) to
detect when a vehicle's weight is abnormally large (car/truck bomb). Then
alert authorities to the vehicle.

A type of bomb proof enclosed area you have to walk though to enter a stadium
that sniffs for explosives and uses imaging to determine if you are a threat,
you could be detained inside if wearing an explosive vest for example or have
a gun. This would prevent bombers from being in a crowd when detected.

Keep thinking outside the box.

