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 navy. Karp did observe, nevertheless, that the corporate’s engineering workforce typically makes use of data from sensors, together with video footage and different information, to run simulations aimed toward bettering 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 currently available within the Phoenix metro space and elements of San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin. Within the firm’s comparatively quick 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 as long as the vehicles have been of their cities, according to reporting from Phoenix’s ABC 15. Police instructed 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 limited robotaxi operations in San Francisco, Vice reported {that a} coaching doc for San Francisco police explicitly instructed officers that “autonomous automobiles” have footage that might typically “assist with investigative leads.”
As of 2023, Waymo had been issued no less than 9 search warrants in San Francisco and Arizona’s Maricopa County, its major markets on the time, in keeping 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 establish 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, potential suspects, and the crime scene, in keeping 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 so as to function. Cruise, the now defunct self-driving automobile enterprise run by Normal Motors, also reportedly gave camera footage to regulation enforcement upon request.
Non-public house owners of camera-equipped automobiles also can voluntarily flip over digital camera footage to regulation enforcement. For instance, police in Berkeley, CA have obtained no less than two units of footage from the proprietor of a Tesla Cybertruck who mentioned their automobile was vandalized twice this yr, in keeping with paperwork obtained by WIRED through public file request.
Extra reporting by Paresh Dave.