New York, the Netherlands, now Hawaii: robot police dogs have been deployed to help keep people safe, but will they abuse human rights?
- Police officials say the canine robots are tools like drones, used to scan dangerous areas and keep humans out of harm’s way
- However, activists say the police are buying them without considering issues of civil liberties or safeguarding against aggressive use
If you’re homeless and looking for temporary shelter in Hawaii’s capital, expect a visit from a robotic police dog that will scan your eye to make sure you don’t have a fever.
That’s just one of the ways public safety agencies are starting to use Spot, the best-known of a new commercial category of robots that trot around with animal-like agility.
The handful of police officials experimenting with the four-legged machines say they’re just another tool, like existing drones and simple wheeled robots, to keep emergency responders out of harm’s way as they scout for dangers. But privacy watchdogs – the human kind – warn that police are secretly rushing to buy the robots without setting safeguards against aggressive, invasive or dehumanising uses.
In Honolulu, the police department spent about US$150,000 in federal pandemic relief money to buy their Spot from robotics firm Boston Dynamics for use at a government-run tent city near the airport.
“Because these people are houseless it’s considered OK to do that,” said Jongwook Kim, legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii. “At some point it will come out again for some different use after the pandemic is over.”