A Chicago-area startup, SplitSec, is testing a smartphone app designed to detect suspected gunfire and alert nearby users. The company is running two no-cost, two-month trials in wards on the Far South Side and Downtown and in the West Loop, with 16 participants in the 21st Ward and 12 in the 42nd Ward.
How it Works
The app uses residents’ smartphones to detect possible gunfire. It has been trained on over 30,000 gunshot and non-gunshot sounds in various conditions and environments to teach the model what real gunshots sound like. If the app detects a sound that might be gunfire, the user is alerted and prompted to say whether they believe they also heard that gunfire.
The app can then anonymously alert other users within about a mile and can also notify a personal “alert crew” of family members or other contacts. If multiple nearby phones detect the same sound, the company says it can triangulate a general area where the shots possibly occurred.
Privacy Concerns
The use of a phone’s microphone has prompted questions about privacy. SplitSec said the app analyzes sounds locally on a user’s device rather than continuously recording or transmitting audio to “the cloud.” The company receives feedback only if users voluntarily submit clips.
Original reporting: Block Club Chicago — read the source article.
