VIPP: VIdeosurveillance with Privacy Protection

Information and Communication technologies (ICT) are experiencing great advances that pave the way for the consolidation of a growing Information Society. Millions of users upload tons of information (e.g. pictures, videos, opinions, etc.), using a variety of devices. This information is stored in multiple interconnected servers that are accessible from almost everywhere through public and private networks. In addition, complex statistical methods and advanced artificial intelligence techniques could be used to analyse those data and generate huge amounts of knowledge.

Pervasive video surveillance systems inherently endanger the privacy of people due to the fact that their identities and activities could be easily retrieved from the pictures and videos gathered. Pervasive computing and the massive connection of ubiquitous devices is transforming our Information Society into the so-called Dataveillance Society thus, violating the fundamental right to privacy as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy". Regarding video surveillance, people might sacrifice part of their privacy for the sake of security. However, most people dislike being monitored during their daily activities.

The goal of VIPP project is to design, implement and evaluate a comprehensive and trustworthy privacy-aware video surveillance system. VIPP is a one-year project funded by Universitat Rovira i Virgili.