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
TT

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.



Meta to Offer Less Personalized Ads in Europe to Appease Regulators

Meta to Offer Less Personalized Ads in Europe to Appease Regulators
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Meta to Offer Less Personalized Ads in Europe to Appease Regulators

Meta to Offer Less Personalized Ads in Europe to Appease Regulators

Meta Platforms plans to offer Instagram and Facebook users in Europe the option to receive "less personalized ads," the tech giant announced on Tuesday, in an effort to allay regulators' mounting concerns.

The Menlo Park, California-based company said it is implementing these changes in response to demands from EU regulators.

Over the coming weeks, people in the EU who use the company's social media platforms for free with ads, will be able to choose to see ads based on what Meta calls "context"- content that a user sees during a particular session on the platforms.

According to Reuters, these ads will also target users based on age, gender, and location, with some being unskippable for a few seconds.

Meta also plans to reduce the price of ad-free subscriptions by about 40% for European users.

This move comes as European regulators intensify efforts to curb Big Tech's power and level the playing field for smaller firms, including through the landmark Digital Markets Act (DMA) which came into force earlier this year.

The European Union law aims to make it easier for people to move between competing online services like social media platforms, internet browsers and app stores.

Last month, Europe's top court ruled that Meta must restrict the use of personal data harvested from Facebook for targeted advertising, supporting privacy activist Max Schrems.

The European Union did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The developments were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Earlier in November, Reuters reported that Apple is set to be fined by the European Union's antitrust regulators under the bloc's landmark rules aimed at managing Big Tech's influence, making it the first company to be sanctioned.