Waymo declined to reply questions from WIRED about what number of cameras are inside its autos, precisely how lengthy footage is retained, and whether or not the corporate has ever turned over footage to US federal regulation enforcement or a department of the army. Karp did word, nonetheless, that the corporate’s engineering workforce typically makes use of info from sensors, together with video footage and different knowledge, to run simulations geared toward enhancing its expertise. She says Waymo additionally places limits on each who can entry knowledge and the way lengthy it’s retained.
Waymo’s robotaxi service is currently available within the Phoenix metro space and components of San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin, Texas. Within the firm’s comparatively brief time working in US cities, it has proven a willingness to adjust to requests for footage from regulation enforcement.
Officers working for the Mesa Police Division and the Chandler Police Division in Arizona have been requesting and utilizing footage from Waymos for felony investigations since 2016, or about as long as the vehicles have been of their cities, according to reporting from Phoenix’s ABC 15. Police informed the information outlet in 2022 that they’ve used the footage for a number of instances, together with an alleged highway rage incident. (The person pleaded responsible after being charged with disorderly conduct.)
In Might 2022, two months after Waymo started limited robotaxi operations in San Francisco, Vice reported {that a} coaching doc for San Francisco police explicitly informed officers that “autonomous autos” have footage that would typically “assist with investigative leads.”
As of 2023, Waymo had been issued at the least 9 search warrants in San Francisco and Arizona’s Maricopa County, its major markets on the time, based on reporting from Bloomberg. One of many instances concerned the homicide of an Uber driver in 2021. Whereas San Francisco police stated they couldn’t establish a selected Waymo automobile that was close to the crime scene, an officer argued that there was “possible trigger” that Waymo autos have been “driving across the space” and had footage of the sufferer, doable suspects, and the crime scene, based on a search warrant seen by Bloomberg. Waymo complied and supplied footage, nevertheless it finally didn’t result in the arrest of the suspect, who was convicted of the homicide in 2023.
Final 12 months, WIRED reported that Waymo had sued two people for allegedly vandalizing its autos in San Francisco and had digital camera footage from the automobiles of the alleged incidents. (One of many instances is ongoing; the opposite was dismissed final month.)
Waymo’s video-recording and data-collection practices aren’t distinctive. All autos with self-driving capabilities depend on a mix of lidar, radar, and video knowledge with a purpose to function. Cruise, the now defunct self-driving-car enterprise run by Common Motors, also reportedly gave camera footage to regulation enforcement upon request.
Non-public homeowners of camera-equipped autos may also voluntarily flip over digital camera footage to regulation enforcement. For instance, police in Berkeley, California, have obtained at the least two units of footage from the proprietor of a Tesla Cybertruck who stated their automotive was vandalized twice this 12 months, based on paperwork obtained by WIRED by way of public file request.
Further reporting by Paresh Dave.
