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Public Buses Across Country Quietly Adding Microphones to Record Conversations


Casper

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One microphone is not going to hear all passenger's conversations. Think of it this way, sitting in a bus, can you hear and understand every conversation? no. Only the loudest sounds.

The microphones are used to provide audio of things like tire screeches, horns and other crash-related audio that helps in determining fault etc. also, the microphone will be installed near the driver to catch any interaction he has with criminals/robbers/unruly passengers etc.

They've had microphones on bus camera systems for ever...

How many of those conversations can you make out?

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Wiretap laws aside, the article is jumping to a conclusion that is not supported by the technology. In order to record all the passenger conversations you'd need one VERY discriminating microphone in front of the mouths of every conversation participant. Show me a bus with 50 hidden microphones, and then I'll worry.

Edited by Scruit
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Wiretap laws aside, the article is jumping to a conclusion that is not supported by the technology. In order to record all the passenger conversations you'd need one VERY discriminating microphone in front of the mouths of every conversation participant. Show me a bus with 50 hidden microphones, and then I'll worry.

I doubt voice recognition technology wouldn't be able to sort individual voices, but like said before, I would say it's more for the driver's sake than anything else.

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I doubt voice recognition technology wouldn't be able to sort individual voices, but like said before, I would say it's more for the driver's sake than anything else.

There's a reason CAPCHA works so well. Heck, current voice recognition can't even reliably understand a single person, never mind multiple simultaneous conversations.

Add to that accents, languages, slang, body language and other nonverbal communication... Nope, not worried.

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