Category: Surveillance Society

One Small Step

Surveillance Society

…and about time, too:

A federal judge in Oklahoma has ruled that a law enforcement officer violated a woman’s Fourth Amendment rights by searching her vehicle’s history through Flock Safety’s license-plate reader network without obtaining a warrant first.

The decision, which was issued by U.S. District Judge Sara Hill, marks one of the most significant legal challenges to Flock’s expanding surveillance system. 

The ruling does not establish a nationwide legal precedent, but it could give momentum to growing concerns over how police departments use automated license-plate databases to track people’s movements.

The case began when a Tulsa County sheriff’s deputy searched Flock’s database for a California-registered vehicle. 

According to the court, the deputy had no clear investigative justification for running the plate other than the fact that the vehicle was from California.

Yeah, let’s just sniff around under any number of rocks to see what we can find.  Asshole.

You know, when a cop whacks a choirboy / Commie or arrests a pedophile, I’m almost always on the side of the police.  But when they start snooping around in a person’s private life, my position changes 180 degrees, also almost every time.

I’m just glad this little anti-Flock step has been taken.  Let’s hope there are more, much more until the whole fucking shitshow crumbles into dust.

Supervised Charity

Surveillance Society

I got Flock’d yesterday.

Outside our local supermarket there are a couple of charity collection bins — you know the ones I mean, those dumpster-looking things with old mailbox-type swinging flaps.

Well lo and behold, as I was doing my monthly closet-cleansing routine I looked up and saw you-know-what perched on a pole above my head.

So after I’d dropped our two Trader Joe’s bags into the slot-door thingy, I waved goodbye to the camera:

…and carried on with my supermarket trip.

I know, I know:  the camera is only there because some assholes persist in using the bins for garbage disposal, and the charity clearly wants to pass information of said dumpers on to the fuzz for their attention.

It didn’t make me feel any better, though.  So I guess I’ll just be finding another drop which doesn’t play Eye-Spy with its donor class.    And if they all start doing it, I’ll just dump our donations into a different kind of dumpster in future.

Yeah, I feel that strongly about it.

And you’ll appreciate the next post, then.

Added Snoopery

Corporate Fuckery, Surveillance Society

Reader Mike L. points me at this latest example of Panopticalism:

Baystate Health is introducing new artificial intelligence-based weapons detection systems across its hospital facilities to enhance patient and visitor safety.

The technology combines traditional hardware with AI tools to screen people as they enter the building. By detecting specific metal masses and weapon-like shapes, the system allows daily items such as pacemakers, wheelchairs, phones and wallets to pass through without setting off alarms.

The system utilizes technology similar to what is used at schools and sporting events to detect prohibited items, including firearms, knives and electronic smoking devices. To accommodate the system at Baystate Medical Center, the hospital is closing its pediatric emergency department entrance to establish a single entry point where everyone passes through the detector.

Forget it, Jake.  It’s Massachusetts.  (Motto:  Where your pets have more rights than YOU do.)

That said, BOLO for similar fuckery in your state or city — and not just in hospitals either, because if the tech exists today, expect it to spread like the bubonic plague by tomorrow.  It’s like the loathsome Flock cameras, only with added bastardy.

Flock News Update

Surveillance Society

More from The Grand Canyon State:

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said she will conduct a review of the state’s use of Flock cameras and other automatic license plate readers.

This summer, several Arizona local governments have either ended their contracts with Flock or adjusted their policies with the company.

Mayes said her analysis will consider how Flock cameras are being used, the impact they are having on Arizonans’ privacy and possible Fourth Amendment violations.

The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects Americans from “unreasonable searches and seizures.”

Richie Taylor, communications director for the attorney general, said Arizona towns and cities “have been grappling with these questions on their own, and that’s part of why this review is needed.”

“Issues of constitutional rights and privacy are too great to be decided in isolation at the local level. Attorney General Mayes believes these are questions that deserve a coordinated, statewide approach,” Taylor told The Center Square.

Needless to say, Satan’s representative is right on it:

Paris Lewbel, a spokesperson for Flock, said the company’s license plate readers “capture still, point-in-time images of vehicles in public view.”

“Agencies own and control their data, access is limited to authorized users, every search requires a documented reason, and each search creates a permanent audit trail,” Lewbel told The Center Square.

“More than 40 courts across the country have determined that fixed license plate readers do not violate the Fourth Amendment and cannot track the whole of an individual’s movements,” he added.

Lewbel said misuse of Flock technology is “completely unacceptable,” noting when it does occur, the company believes “accountability matters — including in the cases Arizona agencies are currently reviewing.”

Oh sure. Here’s a newsflash:  the fucking courts don’t decide what is or is not a Constitutional abridgement:  the People decide, not the courts and especially not law enforcement.  And we’ve decided we don’t like being spied upon.  A few stolen cars being retrieved doesn’t counterbalance the Fourteenth Amendment, just as a few gun accidents don’t counterbalance the Second.

So there’s one simple response to all that glib claptrap:  FOAD, you and your godless, snooping company.

Flock News Update

Asshole Cops, Surveillance Society

Here we go again:

Columbus police have paused their use of Flock automatic license plate readers after an officer was accused of searching the same plate more than 270 times over roughly 14 months.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that Mayor Andrew Ginther called the allegations against the officer “deeply troubling” in comments made this week as the city moved to immediately halt use of the cameras and cover them with bags to prevent further data collection. The city will also audit all Flock searches conducted by Columbus police, and City Council is drafting legislation to govern how the cameras can be used going forward.

Considering that these godless fucking snooping devices seem to be all over the United States, I think it’s time for federal legislation — it’s too big an issue to be left to municipalities and even states to address.

And I absolutely hate the feds to get involved in anything, except where Constitutional principles are involved — like here.