Singapore Patrol Robots Stoke Fears of Surveillance State

During a three-week trial in September, two robots were deployed to patrol a Singapore housing estate and shopping center. Roslan RAHMAN AFP
During a three-week trial in September, two robots were deployed to patrol a Singapore housing estate and shopping center. Roslan RAHMAN AFP
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Singapore Patrol Robots Stoke Fears of Surveillance State

During a three-week trial in September, two robots were deployed to patrol a Singapore housing estate and shopping center. Roslan RAHMAN AFP
During a three-week trial in September, two robots were deployed to patrol a Singapore housing estate and shopping center. Roslan RAHMAN AFP

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.

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.

Officials have long pushed a vision of a hyper-efficient, tech-driven "smart nation", but activists say privacy is being sacrificed and people have little control over what happens to their data.

Singapore is frequently criticized for curbing civil liberties and people are accustomed to tight controls, but there is still growing unease at intrusive tech.

The government's latest surveillance devices are robots on wheels, with seven cameras, that issue warnings to the public and detect "undesirable social behavior".

This includes smoking in prohibited areas, improperly parking bicycles, and breaching coronavirus social-distancing rules.

During a recent patrol, one of the "Xavier" robots wove its way through a housing estate and stopped in front of a group of elderly residents watching a chess match.

"Please keep one-meter distancing, please keep to five persons per group," a robotic voice blared out, as a camera on top of the machine trained its gaze on them.

During a three-week trial in September, two robots were deployed to patrol the housing estate and a shopping center.

"It reminds me of Robocop," said Frannie Teo, a 34-year-old research assistant, who was walking through the mall.

It brings to mind a "dystopian world of robots... I'm just a bit hesitant about that kind of concept", she added.

- 'No constraints' -
Digital rights activist Lee Yi Ting said the devices were the latest way Singaporeans were being watched.

"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," she told AFP.

But the government defended its use of robots, saying they were not being used to identify or take action against offenders during the tech's trial, and were needed to address a labor crunch as the population ages.

"The workforce is actually shrinking," 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.

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.

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.

But critics say the city-state's laws generally put few limitations on government surveillance, and Singaporeans have little control over what happens to the data collected.

"There are no privacy law constraints on what the government can or cannot do," said Indulekshmi Rajeswari, a privacy lawyer from Singapore who is now based in Germany.



Australia Ditches Plans to Fine Tech Giants for Misinformation

Facebook's new rebrand logo Meta is seen on a smartphone in front of displayed logo of Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus in this illustration picture taken October 28, 2021. (Reuters)
Facebook's new rebrand logo Meta is seen on a smartphone in front of displayed logo of Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus in this illustration picture taken October 28, 2021. (Reuters)
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Australia Ditches Plans to Fine Tech Giants for Misinformation

Facebook's new rebrand logo Meta is seen on a smartphone in front of displayed logo of Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus in this illustration picture taken October 28, 2021. (Reuters)
Facebook's new rebrand logo Meta is seen on a smartphone in front of displayed logo of Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus in this illustration picture taken October 28, 2021. (Reuters)

Australia has ditched plans to fine social media companies if they fail to stem the spread of misinformation, the country's communications minister said Sunday.

The proposed legislation outlined sweeping powers to fine tech companies up to five percent of their yearly turnover if they breached new online safety obligations.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said she had dumped the bill after running into significant opposition in the country's senate.

"Based on public statements and engagements with senators, it is clear that there is no pathway to legislate this proposal through the senate," she said in a statement.

The proposed bill notably drew the ire of tech baron Elon Musk, who in September likened the Australian government to "fascists".

Australia has been at the forefront of global efforts to regulate the tech giants.

The government will soon roll out a nationwide social media ban for children under 16.

Social media companies could be fined more than US$30 million if they fail to keep children off their platforms, under separate laws tabled before Australia's parliament on Thursday.