4 ms·

It's good that people can get these and reverse engineer them, do a security audit, and publish the results (which are that they are easily hackable and insecur

It's good that people can get these and reverse engineer them, do a security audit, and publish the results (which are that they are easily hackable and insecure). > The fact that voter information is left on devices, unencrypted, that are then sold on the open market is malpractice I disagree with him that what he describes is "voter information". There's vote information and election information, both which are already public information and are not sensitive information at all. The machines do not have voter information on them nor does he give any evidence of it. What he describes finding was: > The information I found on the drives including candidates, precincts, and the number of votes cast on the machine, were not encrypted. All these things are public information already. > Worse, the “Property Of” government labels were still attached, meaning someone had sold government property filled with voter information and location data online, at a low cost, with no consequences. It would be the equivalent of buying a surplus police car with the logos still on it. When government agencies auction off surplus cars they seldom repaint them first. It's common to find them with the logos. Example: https://www.copcarsonline.com/2018_Dodge_Charger_Largo_FL_35020052.veh https://www.copcarsonline.com/2018_Dodge_Charger_Largo_FL_35... Even comes with the original light bar and the radar!

userbinator 7y ago
All these things are public information already No kidding. You don't even have to buy a voting machine to get that information.
mrtnmcc 7y ago
to be fair, that particular example says "being marketed to Law Enforcement only".
- droithomme 7y ago
  Well it says "Over $5000.00 in Police Equipment being marketed to Law Enforcement only." I read that as that there's optional gear that is a restricted buy, not the car itself. You could be right though. Also, no matter who buys it they'll have to remove the decals before driving since it's not going to be bought by the same agency that sold it. A good question though is how much do you have to change before you can legally drive it? This guy here seems to believe that driving a police car with lights and even "911" and "Dodge Law Enforcement" is Ok as long as it doesn't say the word "Police" at which point it would be impersonating a police officer. https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1100773_driving-a-police-car-six-things-you-should-know https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1100773_driving-a-police... In this police forum where they are discussing the issue one person notes that in California driving anything that remotely looks like a police car is illegal, and another states that in Tennessee you can drive a police car if you feel like it. So state laws perhaps vary as to whether you have to remove the decals and/or repaint the whole thing before driving a decalled surplus acquisition. https://forum.officer.com/forum/public-forums/general-law-enforcement-topics/80484-civilains-driving-used-police-cars https://forum.officer.com/forum/public-forums/general-law-en...
  - Amygaz 7y ago
    Tennessee isn’t “The Volunteer State” for no reason! Then, you know, they are also cool with others’ impersonation of well known Tennessean.
    - droithomme 7y ago
      Yes, lots of Dolly Parton impersonators around! Seriously though are they the only state left with "Constables" which are completely independent law enforcement officers who have to buy their own cruisers, guns, and uniforms, which they get to design themselves? It sounds pretty cool, like there's no possibility of conspiracy with other cops in their department since there aren't any, there's no supervisor so they can't say they were just following orders, and if the entire local police force is corrupt, one can use the constable as a last form of justice. And if people don't like the job they are doing they can simply vote them out.
  - voodochild 7y ago
    sounds like in tennessee you could hop into a police car and do vigilante missions, GTA style
  - jacobush 7y ago
    Sweden. My boss’ teenage son bought a Volvo, same model used for police cruisers. Did the police paint job, logo, everything. Even found a source for the flashing lightbar. Then proceeded to cruise around town. The Police were, of course, not amused. He got it impounded twice, but they had to return it on both occasions with no charges filed.
TwoBit 7y ago
So the machines don't indicate who I individual voters selected?
bitwize 7y ago
That reminds me of how The KLF (as The Timelords) bought a used Ford Galaxie police car and used it as the "frontman" for their group, calling it Ford Timelord. They repainted the logo on the doors, but the black and white coloring is original I think and they kept the siren.
noja 7y ago
> I disagree with him that what he describes is "voter information". If you combine a voting machine ID from a certain time and place, can you determine with good certainty the way that a particular person voted?
- bryanrasmussen 7y ago
  if you know exactly what time the person you're targeting went to vote - maybe.
  - michaelt 7y ago
    In the UK, it's not unusual for polling stations to have 'tellers' [1] outside, asking voters to volunteer their electoral registration numbers (which can easily be converted into their name). Nothing stops them recording the time too, and many rural polling stations are small enough that only a single voter is in there at a time. Luckily, we don't have electronic voting machines. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teller_(elections) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teller_(elections)

userbinator 7y ago

All these things are public information already No kidding. You don't even have to buy a voting machine to get that information.

mrtnmcc 7y ago

to be fair, that particular example says "being marketed to Law Enforcement only".

droithomme 7y ago
Well it says "Over $5000.00 in Police Equipment being marketed to Law Enforcement only." I read that as that there's optional gear that is a restricted buy, not the car itself. You could be right though. Also, no matter who buys it they'll have to remove the decals before driving since it's not going to be bought by the same agency that sold it. A good question though is how much do you have to change before you can legally drive it? This guy here seems to believe that driving a police car with lights and even "911" and "Dodge Law Enforcement" is Ok as long as it doesn't say the word "Police" at which point it would be impersonating a police officer. https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1100773_driving-a-police-car-six-things-you-should-know https://www.motorauthority.com/news/1100773_driving-a-police... In this police forum where they are discussing the issue one person notes that in California driving anything that remotely looks like a police car is illegal, and another states that in Tennessee you can drive a police car if you feel like it. So state laws perhaps vary as to whether you have to remove the decals and/or repaint the whole thing before driving a decalled surplus acquisition. https://forum.officer.com/forum/public-forums/general-law-enforcement-topics/80484-civilains-driving-used-police-cars https://forum.officer.com/forum/public-forums/general-law-en...
- Amygaz 7y ago
  Tennessee isn’t “The Volunteer State” for no reason! Then, you know, they are also cool with others’ impersonation of well known Tennessean.
  - droithomme 7y ago
    Yes, lots of Dolly Parton impersonators around! Seriously though are they the only state left with "Constables" which are completely independent law enforcement officers who have to buy their own cruisers, guns, and uniforms, which they get to design themselves? It sounds pretty cool, like there's no possibility of conspiracy with other cops in their department since there aren't any, there's no supervisor so they can't say they were just following orders, and if the entire local police force is corrupt, one can use the constable as a last form of justice. And if people don't like the job they are doing they can simply vote them out.
- voodochild 7y ago
  sounds like in tennessee you could hop into a police car and do vigilante missions, GTA style
- jacobush 7y ago
  Sweden. My boss’ teenage son bought a Volvo, same model used for police cruisers. Did the police paint job, logo, everything. Even found a source for the flashing lightbar. Then proceeded to cruise around town. The Police were, of course, not amused. He got it impounded twice, but they had to return it on both occasions with no charges filed.

TwoBit 7y ago

So the machines don't indicate who I individual voters selected?

bitwize 7y ago

That reminds me of how The KLF (as The Timelords) bought a used Ford Galaxie police car and used it as the "frontman" for their group, calling it Ford Timelord. They repainted the logo on the doors, but the black and white coloring is original I think and they kept the siren.

noja 7y ago

> I disagree with him that what he describes is "voter information". If you combine a voting machine ID from a certain time and place, can you determine with good certainty the way that a particular person voted?

bryanrasmussen 7y ago
if you know exactly what time the person you're targeting went to vote - maybe.
- michaelt 7y ago
  In the UK, it's not unusual for polling stations to have 'tellers' [1] outside, asking voters to volunteer their electoral registration numbers (which can easily be converted into their name). Nothing stops them recording the time too, and many rural polling stations are small enough that only a single voter is in there at a time. Luckily, we don't have electronic voting machines. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teller_(elections) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teller_(elections)