6 ms·
after 9/11 basically every employee of a federal building/critical piece of infrastructure + the associated security/police were on the look out for people "ca
by rbcgerard 10y ago
after 9/11 basically every employee of a federal building/critical piece of infrastructure + the associated security/police were on the look out for people "casing" their facilities, i.e. planning an attack, taking pictures etc.
This eventually morphed into hassling, arresting anyone taking photos of these sites...link below has some good info
https://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/2012/09/24/homeland-security-focuses-on-suspicious-activity-outside-refineries/ https://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/2012/09/24/homeland-securi...
- peterbonney 10y agoI love that in the era of the 15 megapixel smartphone camera, someone thinks a person with a 4x5 and a freaking tripod is taking a picture for nefarious purposes.
- jrockway 10y agoI bet nobody would have even noticed if I were using a 5DR hand-held.
- gm-conspiracy 10y agoExcellent picture, but at 4x5 could you upload something higher res. for us to look at, please?
- jrockway 10y agoI can when I get home, but I use a flatbed scanner to digitize and it just doesn't get much more detail than that. You need a drum scanner, which are expensive ;)
- gm-conspiracy 10y agoIndeed. The same way the Kai's PowerGoo sample faces were scanned.
- 20yrs_no_equity 10y agoThis is because it's security theater, not actual security. The entire security culture of the USA is focused on drama, not legitimate vulnerabilities. It would be amusing if it weren't so scary.
- rbcgerard 10y agoIn that vein, I was waiting outside a federal building for a friend (who worked inside) and was approached by a private security officer and asked to show ID, I was about to get indignant, but decided I really just wanted to go to lunch, so showed her, she barely glanced at it, gave it back to me and walked off - what earthly purpose that served, I have no idea...
- 20yrs_no_equity 10y agoThe purpose it served was making you bow to her will. It was pure ego trip. Cops being able to demand ID arbitrarily is not supported by the constitution but some states allow it. Private individuals (even if they are a "security guard") certainly have no rights to make such demands. This whole environment is just the Stanford Prison Experiment writ large.
- thechao 10y agoI think learning ASL would be a fun way to deal with these security people.
- busyant 10y agoUnfortunately, if you think about this too much, everything gets flipped upside down. The tripod is the _perfect_ cover for a would be terrorist. Hide in plain sight. Etc.
- hashkb 10y agoDon't think about it too much!
- bogomipz 10y agoTo be fair, I've been approached and reprimanded in China, Ethiopia, Panama and Cairo for taking pictures of seemingly innocuous looking things that might be of interest to a traveler or tourist however someone watching felt otherwise. Its not just the US.