According to the British Police, the wearable Glass technologies from Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) along with social media may prove to be a helping hand in investigations and giving information about any expected crime in the future.
Google Glass Was Another Channel To Explore
An open-source intelligence manager with the NDEU, Umut Ertogral said that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) wearable glasses was “another channel for us to explore and look at” while speaking at AusCERT security conference on the Gold Coast.
The social networking monitoring division of 17 people has been set up by an investigative unit, which looks for any potential clues that can lead to further investigation, or public disorder organisation.
The social media like Twitter, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and other online platforms are used by UK’s national domestic extremism unit (NDEU) to get control over and stop any potential violence during the public events and gatherings like the 2011 London riots.
Ertogral said that YouTube acts as a CCTV camera for the police in reality. The people record the incident of protest on their cameras and post it on YouTube. This is a known fact.
The social media have been of great help in arresting ten people who decided to protest in front of Prime Minister David Cameron after they all met on Twitter and organised this plan.
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has been reeling under criticisms for its Google glass, which is a pair of Glass incorporating a camera, and permanent internet connection for privacy related issues. However, Mr Ertogral has said that video based social networks like YouTube will be a great technology for police.
The social media have also been used by the police to keep an eye on the events and actions 5 days prior to the Olympics.
Some hurdles
According to Ertogral, police faced some hurdles while tracking the social networks. The people who were responsible for 2011 London Riots dodged the police by using their Blackberry’s messaging services, which routes messages through servers in Canada, and cannot be accessed publicly by anyone. According to Ertogral, there are tricks to access these messages.
Ertogral further shared that once an activist start using the encoded servers and the upcoming fourth generation mobile networks then it will be a major hurdle for the investigators as these technologies will let the users upload bigger videos and pictures, which will become harder to analyze.
“A lot of newspapers out there report on how are we becoming a police state, how the police are monitoring everything out there,” he said. He said that using these social media networls for investigation is not wrong but one should be ethical in that.”
