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This isn't exactly any authority figure. It's a piece of software that as described is the essence of Big Brother and is being promoted by an individual who ha

by pmorici 13y ago

This isn't exactly any authority figure. It's a piece of software that as described is the essence of Big Brother and is being promoted by an individual who had to resign from a position of power due to corruption per the article. It's being used by an organization that has a history of abuses of power.

Karunamon 13y ago
the essence of Big Brother This is meaningless pap. The app we're describing has one purpose, and that's letting you send things to the police if you want. It is not a remote surveillance application as the headline mischaracterizes it or you mischaracterize it by invoking the title of a book that comes up any time the subject is "police do something". How is this any different from the ability to call/text the local police tip line? I'm all for calling out overreach, but making it easy for people to send the police data voluntarily and on their own terms hardly seems like a bad idea.
- coldtea 13y ago
  >How is this any different from the ability to call/text the local police tip line? It's not. That's Big Brotherish too -- including in the literal sense that snitching is a common practice in the book of that name. Don't know about modern US, but there are societies with moral codes against snitching of any kind, including snitching the bad guys to the police. And even in the US, I'm aware that there at least used to be some old popular attitude against such a thing. In fact, this notion that snitching is immoral in itself, even if it is to the "authorities", has been part of popular culture and lore for ages, from Zorro and Robin Hood to Batman. Heck, Judas himself was snitching to the authorities, and we all know the status he has in our cultural landscape.
  - Karunamon 13y ago
    The fact that it's popular or a cultural thing doesn't necessarily make it correct. I wonder how many lives have been lost, how much pain has been perpetrated on the world because of this stupid cultural thing?

by pmorici 13y ago

Karunamon 13y ago

the essence of Big Brother This is meaningless pap. The app we're describing has one purpose, and that's letting you send things to the police if you want. It is not a remote surveillance application as the headline mischaracterizes it or you mischaracterize it by invoking the title of a book that comes up any time the subject is "police do something". How is this any different from the ability to call/text the local police tip line? I'm all for calling out overreach, but making it easy for people to send the police data voluntarily and on their own terms hardly seems like a bad idea.

coldtea 13y ago
>How is this any different from the ability to call/text the local police tip line? It's not. That's Big Brotherish too -- including in the literal sense that snitching is a common practice in the book of that name. Don't know about modern US, but there are societies with moral codes against snitching of any kind, including snitching the bad guys to the police. And even in the US, I'm aware that there at least used to be some old popular attitude against such a thing. In fact, this notion that snitching is immoral in itself, even if it is to the "authorities", has been part of popular culture and lore for ages, from Zorro and Robin Hood to Batman. Heck, Judas himself was snitching to the authorities, and we all know the status he has in our cultural landscape.
- Karunamon 13y ago
  The fact that it's popular or a cultural thing doesn't necessarily make it correct. I wonder how many lives have been lost, how much pain has been perpetrated on the world because of this stupid cultural thing?