This AI tool can now turn ordinary household photos into location clues — so could law forces use the technology to scope out your home? | Daily Reports Online
- An AI tool called Raven can cross-reference fixtures, fittings, and other interior details to find the location of a property
- It pinpoints properties using data scraped from Airbnb and other sites
- Raven was previously known as GeoSpy and was initially conceived to identify locations based on landmarks
A new AI tool that can identify a property’s location using interior photos has been publicized online. Already in use by law enforcement agencies in Florida and California, Raven uses AI to match fixtures and fittings and decorative elements from photos with information sourced online.
Following the publication of a video demonstrating the software, Raven has attracted attention from some of the websites it apparently uses to acquire the information it uses. The sites – which include Airbnb – seem to have concerns about how the data and images they collect is being used.
Raven’s existence could potentially be used to find the location of any property – assuming that its address and similar images already exist online.
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Raven has been used by the LAPD and the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office in Florida. Its main purpose so far has been in tackling human trafficking, but the software represents obvious privacy challenges which its creators seem to be sidestepping at this stage.
The most important takeaway is that as long as your home (or business premises) hasn’t been used for criminal activities and photos of its interior aren’t online, then you have nothing to worry about.
Daniel Heinen of Raven developers Graylark described the product as “purpose-built AI for the people working to find answers and protect lives.”
However, some of the websites that Raven uses to gather information have expressed concern. The video of Raven in action appears to show the software using both Zillow, Vrbo, and Airbnb, with the latter reviewing the situation. Zillow stated scraping its data was against its ToS.
These issues could prove to be a challenge to the successful use of Raven across a wider area.
Matching interiors
Raven essentially breaches privacy by providing the location of an interior photo. Assuming a similar photo of the same interior exists online with an address attached – such as on Airbnb or a property site – then Raven should be able to identify it.
Heinen doesn’t mention the privacy challenges in his LinkedIn post about Raven, instead focusing on the software’s “ability to geolocate interior images across millions of short-term rental units worldwide.”
While highlighting the use of short-term rentals for human trafficking, the post focuses on Raven’s USP: “For investigators, a photo or video from inside a property may be a critical lead, but without an address or location tag, knowing where to start can be difficult. Raven helps investigators match interior imagery to potential properties, turning visual clues into location leads they can review and verify.”
It would seem likely that for Raven to be embraced successfully by other police departments in the US and beyond, it would need to accept regional privacy laws and build partnerships with the companies it appears to be scraping.
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