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Then what do you propose, people give their names? But then they'll give fake names. So ask for proof of identity? Is that even possible, let alone expedient in
by jonny_eh 7y ago
Then what do you propose, people give their names? But then they'll give fake names. So ask for proof of identity? Is that even possible, let alone expedient in an emergency?
The solution is to take these reports seriously, but with a grain of salt. i.e. don't just shoot a guy that walks out of his house while confused.
- MisterTea 7y agoHow about a phone system that does not allow random people to spoof numbers with little to no effort. That would be a nice start. Would also curb all those friggin spam calls I get from random numbers.
- jonny_eh 7y agoPeople are working on a solution, but unfortunately it's a tough challenge due to bad choices made decades ago.
- penagwin 7y agoYou can still buy a 10$ sim card and use a burner phone. Potentially a free VOIP app would work too. It's not super scalable (that's why numbers are spoofed instead) but for a couple calls it'd be no problem.
- XorNot 7y agoI mean in Australia you just can't do this. Burner phones aren't a thing. Prepay is but you have to activate it by providing ID.
- the8472 7y agoAnonymous phone calls have positive uses too, it would be nice to not install more surveillance infrastructure and have less trigger-happy police instead. In other countries cops ring the door and ask if everything is ok after they have received a call.
- dredmorbius 7y agoLegibility need not be global legibility. In a pre-adtech surveillance capitalism world, it was possible to physically enter a location and be known to some but not all. An IFF system that's readable only to friends addresses much this need.
- ryacko 7y agoIf you want anonymity, you should use an unauthenticated system. Telephones should have authentication. Surveillance is orthogonal to the use of authentication, although is a natural consequence of needing to keep tracking of billing records.
- tinus_hn 7y agoThe police can see through basic spoofing like what happens with your spam calls. SWATting is done using throwaway voip connections where you can see the number but it’s worthless.
- wongarsu 7y agoHere in Germany you can anonymously call the police (using a pay phone or whatever), but it's not an issue because the police use the door bell and politely take a look instead of busting the door open and storming the place with drawn guns. I understand police in the US has to adapt to the assumption that everyone has a gun, but even when you suspect a hostage situation what's the problem with politely knocking and waiting if you get a friendly response?
- davidw 7y ago> I understand police in the US has to adapt to the assumption that everyone has a gun That might be a big part of the 'root cause' of this issue.
- Mirioron 7y agoBut many other countries have guns too, eg Switzerland. They don't seem to suffer from the same issue though.
- davidw 7y agoSwitzerland's regulations are far, far stricter than those in the US.
- TeMPOraL 7y agoMaybe they don't have enough criminals discharging those guns?
- microtherion 7y agoThis week an armed man was shot by police in Switzerland. One detail in the newspaper reports that stood out for me was that the investigation of the shooting was immediately transferred to an out of state police department, and that this is apparently standard practice for police use of weapons. In contrast to this, in the US, there appears to be practically no accountability for the police: https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicksibilla/2019/07/18/cop-who-accidentally-shot-10-year-old-when-aiming-for-family-dog-cant-be-sued-federal-court-rules/#53e280723987 https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicksibilla/2019/07/18/cop-who-...
- mikeash 7y agoI propose that police must always respond to an emergency call in a way that will not result in tragedy if it’s fake. Innocent until proven guilty, you know? The problem isn’t that the police respond to a false alarm. The problem is that they sometimes shoot people when they do.