Goochland County Sheriff just announced cessation of camera use.

I've read that a 1000mW laser will fry the camera.

A local investigator in my area found the city shares Flock data with 1300 other agencies. They demonstrated heat maps easily showing everywhere someone typically travels. Add to that Walmart, Target, and several local grocery stores are converting to electronic price tag that change dynamically based on who's looking at the product. Also add how our phones are surprisingly good at telling where we've been at any time.

I'm not sure there's much we can do to avoid any of this.

Well, I guess I am in the minority of folks who really just doesn’t give much of a rip on them.


Don’t get me wrong, absolutely against the misuse of the info but I think the fix for that is improved security and multilevel protocol for access along with automatic tracking, reporting, and audit of accessing the info. When someone wrongfully accesses the data, hammer them hard with loss of job, civil or criminal penalties, etc.

I spent 30 years accessing local, state, and federal databases. Rules for access were very clear as were the penalties of misuse. Even so, I saw police officers using the data to track/stalk/meet romantic interests. One of the officers used it to screen john’s for his ex-wife’s “escort” services, and more.


By and large, the majority of use was for legitimate purposes. Every source I have seen shows Flock and similar camera programs have provided the leads or info to locate missing person, stolen vehicles, identify felony suspects, etc. No question that “good” does come from them.

The question becomes does the good outweigh the potential for bad. I believe access could be locked down, unfortunately though it may be too late as the public outrage continues to be fomented.


As for the whole “privacy” or “surveillance” aspect of the common joe who is just going about his day to day routine - newsflash, nobody cares about you, where you go, or what you do. Very few of us are that important.


“Make cops do the work” sounds great, but understand that there is roughly 1 cop for every 1200 people or so in this country and about 120-150 of those 1200 people are out doing shit they shouldn’t be doing. Good luck trying to keep up with the workload without having some tools to help with the leg work.


Certainly needs to be balanced, secured, and audited but just dumping a tool that locates missing people, stolen vehicles, and identifies violent felons seems like cutting off your nose to spite your face to me.

quote:

Well, I guess I am in the minority of folks who really just doesn’t give much of a rip on them.

A very tiny minority.

This shit goes too far. Passive cameras disclosed as such, OK. Spying on people, fuck that shit. The same for this "dynamic pricing". Mark the price, that's what I pay, or I'm going somewhere else.

quote:

Originally posted by 911Boss:
Well, I guess I am in the minority of folks who really just doesn’t give much of a rip on them.

[SNIP]

As for the whole “privacy” or “surveillance” aspect of the common joe who is just going about his day to day routine - newsflash, nobody cares about you, where you go, or what you do. Very few of us are that important.

Imagine if your car insurance, health insurance, and life insurance rates (perhaps umbrella policy rates?) were 'adjusted' because your insurance companies were able to know everywhere you went, any place you ate or consumed anything, what activities you participated in, how you got there, at what speed and how often you engaged in ANY of these activities! Further, imagine the potential for those rates to be 'adjusted' based on who you engaged in these activities with as well.

What about being de-banked or having the interest rates you pay 'adjusted' as these institutions see fit. With all that data, it's also conceivable that your rates could be adjusted because of the things that you either do, OR don't do based on what such institutions deem either desirable, or undesirable. Do you ever go to the range, or gun store? Maybe you never go to the gym or engage in exercise/outdoor activities? Do you participate in some corporate or gov't entity's definition of 'risky' behavior(s)? All this data would be great for developing a new 'social credit score' system, potentially affecting virtually every aspect of your life/lifestyle.

While a great tool for law enforcement, the potential downsides of this type of widespread monitoring/data collection, the product of which CAN, and likely WILL be sold to any entity willing to pay for it are significant! IMO the potential for bad FAR outweighs the good here!

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:

What about being de-banked or having the interest rates you pay 'adjusted' as these institutions see fit. ... Do you participate in some corporate or gov't entity's definition of 'risky' behavior(s)? All this data would be great for developing a new 'social credit score' system, potentially affecting virtually every aspect of your life/lifestyle.

Now that's crazy talk! When has a government ever debanked citizens for going against the government's desires when the citizens' actions were legal? Have banks ever been pressured by the government to debank businesses lawfully engaged in disapproved of Constitutionally protected activity? Has government ever debanked lawful protestors? Have citizens' free speech ever been suppressed by government for lawful but contrary opinions? /sarcasm

I recall an article just a few years ago about data collation, where the Founding Fathers could have been easily identified had just a few data points been available. Which publications they read, which pubs they visited, etc. With this data the entire web of who was involved in pre-revolutionary community could be identified. A tyranny-minded government could then suppress that lawful but unliked association of people.

My ex-wife finding out where I go on Friday night doesn't worry me, nor does the data sitting idly in a computer somewhere worry me. I don't like it but it doesn't harm me. I believe the risk of misuse though is huge. The government and corporations already have used data against us.

About a month ago, the algorithm gave me a video some guy took supposedly on the road from Phoenix to Tucson of some yellow highway department barrels on the side of the road. One of them had a hole cut in it and a license plate reader cam. He had gotten out and was right on it, filming, and traced some cables coming out of it down to a solar panel on a pole down in a wash.

Last weekend, I drove to Tucson. Sure as shit, there it was just north of Tucson, hole in the barrel plan as day, the solar array powering it visible a short ways down in the wash. If you weren't paying attention, you'd drive right past it and never notice it.

It’s stalking plain and simple. In my eyes it’s also invasion of privacy since that data is shared. Just because they are doing it to everyone does make it something noble.

quote:

Originally posted by jed7s9b:
Just because they are doing it to everyone does make it something noble.

Similar statement: it doesn’t mean We The People have to accept it.