Video Surveillance and Law: Uses and Challenges

Internet of Things has found its applications in almost all aspects of life. As per Gartner, there will be 20 billion connected devices by 2020. Internet of Things is being used in industrial sector, agriculture sector, transportation sector, health care and education sector. It has made smart homes and smart cities a possibility. Internet of Things has revolutionized the field of law particularly. Law Enforcement uses multiple wearables, different surveillance techniques and applications to prevent crime, investigate crimes and for forensic intelligence. Internet of Things setup has been successfully implemented in court systems making them more efficient. Among the surveillance techniques, one that is used most frequently is video surveillance. Video surveillance has evolved from the being closed 'CCTV' to a live system after its integration with Internet of Things. Video surveillance is carried out not only by open-street cameras but also by utilizing body worn cameras, in-car video systems, drones and license plate readers. Footage obtained by video surveillance is used as evidence in the court of law. Video Surveillance has helped solve multiple high profile cases like 2005 London Bombings, 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing and recently rape and brutal murder of six-year old girl Alesha MacPhail in July 2018 in UK. However, video surveillance is not without its drawbacks. Issues like privacy, data retention, quality of video, energy efficiency and others are associated with it. Authorities have passed different policies in order to regulate the video surveillance setup. In the never-ending debate of security vs privacy, every state in United States has different policy but most policies tilt more towards the security while European Union adheres more to the concept of privacy.