Waymo declined to reply questions from WIRED about what number of cameras are inside its automobiles, 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 notice, nonetheless, that the corporate’s engineering staff generally makes use of info from sensors, together with video footage and different information, to run simulations aimed toward enhancing its know-how. She says Waymo additionally places limits on each who can entry information and the way lengthy it’s retained.
Waymo’s robotaxi service is presently accessible within the Phoenix metro space and elements of San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin. Within the firm’s comparatively brief time working in US cities, it’s proven a willingness to adjust to requests for footage from regulation enforcement.
Officers working for Arizona’s Mesa Police Division and Chandler Police Departments have been requesting and utilizing footage from Waymos for felony investigations since 2016, or about so long as the automobiles have been of their cities, in line with reporting from Phoenix’s ABC 15. Police advised the information outlet in 2022 that they’ve used the footage for a number of circumstances, 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 restricted robotaxi operations in San Francisco, Vice reported {that a} coaching doc for San Francisco police explicitly advised officers that “autonomous automobiles” have footage that might generally “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, in line with reporting from Bloomberg. One of many circumstances concerned the homicide of an Uber driver in 2021. Whereas San Francisco police mentioned they couldn’t determine a particular Waymo automobile that was close to the crime scene, an officer argued that there was “possible trigger” Waymo automobiles have been “driving across the space” and had footage of the sufferer, doable suspects, and the crime scene, in line with a search warrant seen by Bloomberg. Waymo complied and supplied footage, however it in the end didn’t result in the arrest of the suspect, who was convicted of the homicide in 2023.
Final yr, WIRED reported that Waymo had sued two people for allegedly vandalizing its automobiles in San Francisco and had digital camera footage from the automobiles of the alleged incidents. (One of many circumstances is ongoing; the opposite was dismissed final month.)
Waymo’s video recording and information assortment practices aren’t distinctive. All automobiles with self-driving capabilities depend on a mixture of lidar, radar, and video information with a purpose to function. Cruise, the now defunct self-driving automotive enterprise run by Normal Motors, additionally reportedly gave digital camera footage to regulation enforcement upon request.
Personal house owners of camera-equipped automobiles can even voluntarily flip over digital camera footage to regulation enforcement. For instance, police in Berkeley, CA have acquired at the least two units of footage from the proprietor of a Tesla Cybertruck who mentioned their automotive was vandalized twice this yr, in line with paperwork obtained by WIRED by way of public report request.
Further reporting by Paresh Dave.