Imagine answering your phone and hearing your parent pleading for you to wire money. It sounds just like them, their voice, their cadence and their panic. But it’s not them. It’s the newest AI-generated technology engineered to target everyday people.
AI has changed drastically in the last 10 years, with major improvements in health sciences and finance. But along with those improvements also come major cybersecurity vulnerabilities that put the safety of the general public at risk.
AI threats aren’t just limited to our smartphones; they are now tracking our daily commutes. In major cities like Berkeley, Calif., AI cameras, often powered by Flock Safety, are watching and recording license plates, among other things. While originally designed to track stolen vehicles, all of the data collected gets uploaded into a massive searchable database. Multiple recent investigations on the Flock Security database revealed that there are many loopholes in the networks that allow federal agencies, including ICE, to conduct backdoor searches on citizens.
The American Civil Liberties Union stated on its website, “Automatic license plate readers have the potential to create permanent records of virtually everywhere any of us has driven, radically transforming the consequences of leaving home to pursue private life, and opening up many opportunities for abuse.”
Sophomore Sonoma Allen said, “I think it’s a little unsettling knowing something as common as driving can be tracked and stored without you really noticing. At the same time, I understand it can help with safety, but it definitely raises concerns about privacy and how that information is used.’’
While these tools are advanced, we aren’t helpless. To combat the scary voice-cloning scams, Fidelity Bank suggests, “create a secret codeword. This could be a random phrase or an inside joke that only your family would know. If someone claiming to be a loved one calls and asks for money, simply ask for the codeword. AI can mimic a voice, but it can’t guess a secret password.”
Experts also warn that you can never fully trust your screen. Scammers frequently fake caller IDs to make it look exactly like the call is coming from your own home.
When it comes to the threat posed by intersection cameras, the solution relies on community action, rather than personal actions. While most people can’t just avoid roads, staying informed on local security policies is one of the best ways to stay safe. Paying attention to city council decisions and advocating for strict data-sharing policies is one of the best ways to keep you and your community’s data protected.
