5 ms·

what's wrong with government spy truck? Did someone come to the sudden realization that there are sanctioned government agencies whose sole job is to spy?

crasco 10y ago
Nothing other than the fact that it's the slippery slope of "let me search X if you have nothing to hide". For why it's scary, read this comment just below: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11683721 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11683721
- sickbeard 10y ago
  I would argue that there is a difference between searching and spying/surveillance
  - rtkwe 10y ago
    With enough of these in a city police etc. can track every single person in the city at little to no cost with accuracy only limited by the density of these readers. It's within spitting distance of having a GPS tracker on every car in the city 24/7. I'd be willing to accept them if they only captured and stored information on people with warrants or under investigation but without any cause police shouldn't be able to track my every movement and store that data.
chillingeffect 10y ago
What is the source of your implication that there is something wrong? No one is implying that. All too often people interpret headlines as indications that something is wrong and instantly feel the need to "react." (typically by dividing into camps of denial and counterattack) It's simply an announcement. You're free as an American to do what you like using the benefit of this free information. It could just as well have been stated like this: "Hey everyone. Just so you know: If you see a truck around that has a Google logo on it and you think that you can act as if it's going to be taking a picture here and there for map purposes and blur out your face, it's not." "In fact, it appears to be owned by the government and we don't know exactly what it's doing. So, if you happen to be considering some activity, such as taking a shortcut through a neighborhood which would automatically delegate you a suspect due to your race not fitting in, etc., you might want to re-consider, since we have no idea what the legally-collected data from this vehicle will be used for."
notatoad 10y ago
As the article says, Philadelphia PD already has 10 trucks outfitted with plate readers that they don't feel any need to hide or disguise. The question is what's different about this one that it needs to be disguised?
jonknee 10y ago
I think the novelty of it is because it is trying to hide as a Google vehicle. There are lots of Google employees here (and even more friends Googlers) and they be interested to find out that the government is hijacking their brand for surveillance.

crasco 10y ago

Nothing other than the fact that it's the slippery slope of "let me search X if you have nothing to hide". For why it's scary, read this comment just below: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11683721 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11683721

sickbeard 10y ago
I would argue that there is a difference between searching and spying/surveillance
- rtkwe 10y ago
  With enough of these in a city police etc. can track every single person in the city at little to no cost with accuracy only limited by the density of these readers. It's within spitting distance of having a GPS tracker on every car in the city 24/7. I'd be willing to accept them if they only captured and stored information on people with warrants or under investigation but without any cause police shouldn't be able to track my every movement and store that data.

chillingeffect 10y ago

What is the source of your implication that there is something wrong? No one is implying that. All too often people interpret headlines as indications that something is wrong and instantly feel the need to "react." (typically by dividing into camps of denial and counterattack) It's simply an announcement. You're free as an American to do what you like using the benefit of this free information. It could just as well have been stated like this: "Hey everyone. Just so you know: If you see a truck around that has a Google logo on it and you think that you can act as if it's going to be taking a picture here and there for map purposes and blur out your face, it's not." "In fact, it appears to be owned by the government and we don't know exactly what it's doing. So, if you happen to be considering some activity, such as taking a shortcut through a neighborhood which would automatically delegate you a suspect due to your race not fitting in, etc., you might want to re-consider, since we have no idea what the legally-collected data from this vehicle will be used for."

notatoad 10y ago

As the article says, Philadelphia PD already has 10 trucks outfitted with plate readers that they don't feel any need to hide or disguise. The question is what's different about this one that it needs to be disguised?

jonknee 10y ago

I think the novelty of it is because it is trying to hide as a Google vehicle. There are lots of Google employees here (and even more friends Googlers) and they be interested to find out that the government is hijacking their brand for surveillance.