Atlanta is taking monitoring of covid protocols to the next level, installing cameras at Peachtree Corners, a city that is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area, to check and see if people at city hall are practicing social distancing and wearing masks.
Peachtree Corners is the first city in the U.S. to use cameras to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Fox News reported.
The first camera has been installed in city hall using artificial intelligence camera technology, according to Peachtree Corners officials, 11 Alive reported.
The cameras can “monitor gatherings and alert city personnel” to gauge whether or not covid guidelines are being followed, according to a press release from the Gwinnett County city.
“Cameras within Peachtree Corners’ City Hall automatically detect covid-19 protocol compliance among visitors, while prioritizing privacy,” the statement said.
The newly acquired AI technology “enables existing cameras to determine if someone is not wearing a mask or a group of people are not observing social distancing guidelines, immediately alerting city personnel,” the release said.
The system “will help us maintain important public safety protocols as we work to slow the spread of the virus,” according to the city’s chief technology officer and assistant city manager, Brandon Branham.
There are no punitive measures for those violating distancing and mask protocols, Branham said. The city will use the system to determine how well city employees are maintaining safety measures.
Branham stressed the cameras use no facial recognition software in the face of criticism from some community members who see the technology as an invasion of privacy and government overreach.
To ensure privacy, the cameras use object detection without facial recognition software, meaning they will not identify individuals, Government Technology reported.
“We have taken the steps to ensure that it’s not (overreach),” Branham said. “Most of your public spaces that you go into today already have cameras out there. This is just using a piece of technology to help us maintain safety through covid-19 and get us all back to work.”
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“The camera recognizes just the shape of a human. It doesn’t do any facial recognition. It finds the shape of those objects and then measures the distance between them,” Branham said.
Peachtree Corners may add the technology to other cameras throughout the entire city. Georgia has not mandated the use of masks or social distancing, although they are encouraged.
