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The robots fit into an arsenal of surveillance techniques that pose major privacy concerns, writes The Guardian. The tiny state has seen “an explosion” in government surveillance of citizens.
During a trial in September, two robots scoured some streets and a shopping center, looking for ‘socially undesirable behaviour’, such as smoking, parking bicycles incorrectly – and breaking the distance rules.
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The government stands for a hyper-technological, highly efficient version of a ‘smart nation’, as it is called, but recently resistance has been growing. Activists are furious about the lack of privacy or anonymity.
game of chess
The new patrol robots have seven cameras. During the test, robot ‘Xavier’ approached a group of older men. They watched a chess match. ‘Please keep one meter away and limit a group to five people’, the robot sounded.
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Frannie Teo, a 34-year-old researcher, has also seen the robot while shopping. “It’s like Robocop,” he says. Teo foresees “a dystopian world full of robots… I would be a little cautious about such a future.”
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Wrong! These carers don’t keep their distance.
Ⓒ AFP
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Boa’s
The government defends its policy because there are too few potential boas available to do the work. “The workforce is actually shrinking,” said official Ong Ka Hing. Privacy activist Lee Yi Ting sees it differently. “It all contributes to a feeling of … that you have to be careful what you say and what you do in Singapore.”
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