Surveillance

Surveillance is the targeted observation of and gathering of information on buildings, territories, or individuals by uninvolved third parties. In addition to access controls and CCTV, the purpose of technical surveillance of industrial facilities, power plants, or the environment is the avoidance of incidents and environmental damage. Using the right sensor technology, it is possible to measure air quality, particulate matter, or water quality.

Technologies from the area of electronic communication are used for data collection, in particular those found in IoT, where each sensor in a sensor network (mesh or cloud) is both a processor and a communication unit. These technologies allow for a quick and large-scale collection of information.  It is possible, for instance to monitor road traffic zones using GPS/GNSS receivers and positioning technology or video surveillance.

Autonomous driving and the moving of machinery also involve the collection and evaluation of an enormous amount of data, not only in the vehicles themselves.