4 ms·

I'm not 100% on the laws around this, but if a city was utilizing ShotSpotter, wouldn't they have to disclose the area(s) they were monitoring?

by zheng 14y ago

Palomides 14y ago
my understanding is that anyone can record any visual or auditory info from any public place (in the US)
- pbhjpbhj 14y ago
  Unless you use a telephone to do it or are using a telephone when you're being recorded? I understand that making a recording of a phone call without notification is strictly disallowed in many states legislation? (eg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_recording_laws#United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_recording_laws#United...)
  - superuser2 14y ago
    Telephone systems are a public place? If I'm walking down the sidewalk talking on my phone, overhearing my voice is not a violation of privacy.
    - njharman 14y ago
      Think point is. Unless that voice is carried over telecommunications network to, say central processing center.
    - pbhjpbhj 14y ago
      >overhearing my voice is not a violation of privacy // But we're talking about recording your voice. Which I think is a violation of my privacy vs just listening to me passively - now that may not be enshrined in any law but then the law doesn't IMO [exclusively?] dictate what is moral.
Anechoic 14y ago
My city (Springfield MA) has a shotspotter system, and even though I have pretty high-up contacts among Springfield PD who know that my interest in the system is purely academic (I'm an acoustical consultant) they wouldn't reveal to me any of the transducer locations. In fact just trying to find a picture of a shotspotter transducer is difficult (the pic in the NYT link is only the second one I've seen).
- yellowbkpk 14y ago
  The sensors are very easy to spot. They are small, white/pale-grey boxes about 4 inches square by 2 inches deep. They're usually placed on stop light struts or on free-standing poles by themselves. They're easy to mistake for emergency vehicle "light changer" systems, but the difference is these are on roads where there are no stop lights. Also, I've seen clusters of 3 or 4 of them attached to the same pole that a camera is attached to -- presumably the camera automatically pans and zooms in on the area as soon as a shot is heard.
  - Anechoic 14y ago
    They are small, white/pale-grey boxes about 4 inches square by 2 inches deep. Are you sure about that? That doesn't jibe with the picture I've seen (http://i.imgur.com/XBevy.jpg http://i.imgur.com/XBevy.jpg) and doesn't sound optimal for an acoustic transducer.
    - justinph 14y ago
      I'm 99.9% sure that is NOT a shot spotter. We have Shotspotter in some areas Minneapolis, as well as city-wide wifi. Those little cans are all over the place and are part of the WiFi System. I took a photo of one just down the street from my house: http://i.imgur.com/OqYEA.jpg http://i.imgur.com/OqYEA.jpg
      - jauer 14y ago
        The can looks like a BelAir Networks BelAir200 WiFi Node.

I'm not 100% on the laws around this, but if a city was utilizing ShotSpotter, wouldn't they have to disclose the area(s) they were monitoring?

by zheng 14y ago

I'm not 100% on the laws around this, but if a city was utilizing ShotSpotter, wouldn't they have to disclose the area(s) they were monitoring?

Palomides 14y ago

my understanding is that anyone can record any visual or auditory info from any public place (in the US)

pbhjpbhj 14y ago
Unless you use a telephone to do it or are using a telephone when you're being recorded? I understand that making a recording of a phone call without notification is strictly disallowed in many states legislation? (eg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_recording_laws#United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_recording_laws#United...)
- superuser2 14y ago
  Telephone systems are a public place? If I'm walking down the sidewalk talking on my phone, overhearing my voice is not a violation of privacy.
  - njharman 14y ago
    Think point is. Unless that voice is carried over telecommunications network to, say central processing center.
  - pbhjpbhj 14y ago
    >overhearing my voice is not a violation of privacy // But we're talking about recording your voice. Which I think is a violation of my privacy vs just listening to me passively - now that may not be enshrined in any law but then the law doesn't IMO [exclusively?] dictate what is moral.

Anechoic 14y ago

My city (Springfield MA) has a shotspotter system, and even though I have pretty high-up contacts among Springfield PD who know that my interest in the system is purely academic (I'm an acoustical consultant) they wouldn't reveal to me any of the transducer locations. In fact just trying to find a picture of a shotspotter transducer is difficult (the pic in the NYT link is only the second one I've seen).

yellowbkpk 14y ago
The sensors are very easy to spot. They are small, white/pale-grey boxes about 4 inches square by 2 inches deep. They're usually placed on stop light struts or on free-standing poles by themselves. They're easy to mistake for emergency vehicle "light changer" systems, but the difference is these are on roads where there are no stop lights. Also, I've seen clusters of 3 or 4 of them attached to the same pole that a camera is attached to -- presumably the camera automatically pans and zooms in on the area as soon as a shot is heard.
- Anechoic 14y ago
  They are small, white/pale-grey boxes about 4 inches square by 2 inches deep. Are you sure about that? That doesn't jibe with the picture I've seen (http://i.imgur.com/XBevy.jpg http://i.imgur.com/XBevy.jpg) and doesn't sound optimal for an acoustic transducer.
  - justinph 14y ago
    I'm 99.9% sure that is NOT a shot spotter. We have Shotspotter in some areas Minneapolis, as well as city-wide wifi. Those little cans are all over the place and are part of the WiFi System. I took a photo of one just down the street from my house: http://i.imgur.com/OqYEA.jpg http://i.imgur.com/OqYEA.jpg
    - jauer 14y ago
      The can looks like a BelAir Networks BelAir200 WiFi Node.