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Gov't Proposes Massive Homeless Tracking System

Posted by michael on from the bagged-and-tagged dept.

Chris Hoofnagle writes "The Dept. of Housing and Urban Development is proposing a massive system of tracking for homeless people and others who are served by shelters and care centers. The system will track people by their SSN, and will collect health (HIV, pregnancy) and mental information. Secret Service and national security agents can gain access to the database by just asking for it! EPIC has released a fact sheet on HMIS, and the public can comment on the guidelines until September 22, 2003, but no electronic comments are being accepted."

14 of 808 comments (clear)

  1. No, we need to track politicians, dammit! by corebreech · · Score: 5, Funny

    WozNet suppositories for everybody on Capitol Hill!

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    Is this truly the only Earth I can live on?
    1. Re:No, we need to track politicians, dammit! by Uruk · · Score: 5, Funny

      No, we don't need to track politicians. We already know where all of the crack houses, bordellos, cheap motels, and liquor stores are. On the off chance that they're actually in session, we also already know where the Capitol is, thanks.

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      -- Truth goes out the door when rumor comes innuendo. -- Groucho Marx
  2. Not to be cruel, but... by SoVi3t · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Couldn't this money be spent in a better way? Better shelters, lower income housing, etc. We don't need to track them. We need to help remotivate them, and get them back into society.

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    Defender of Microsoft and Communism!!!
    1. Re:Not to be cruel, but... by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 5, Funny
      You rotten Communist!

      Don't you think that if we had known who the penniless homeless were, we could have prevented the massive attack on 09/11/01? They are begging for spare change, and using it to buy AIRLINE TICKETS!

      --
      "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
      Never been known to fail..."
    2. Re:Not to be cruel, but... by Bonker · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I wish I had mod points for the above.

      20-25 percent of homeless people are seriously mentally ill.

      http://www.nrchmi.com/facts/facts_question_3.asp

      They're sick, get sicker, and cause more problems for everyone around them, including other homeless, because they can't really get treatment for their diseases.

      If we're spending money to try and improve the situation of the homeless, making more free mental and medical help available will do a hell of a lot more than a tracking system.

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    3. Re:Not to be cruel, but... by Magic+Thread · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Only for homeless, right?
      Sure, it's only for the homeless... for now. Don't count on it staying that way.
    4. Re:Not to be cruel, but... by gantzm · · Score: 5, Funny

      They're not homeless, they're residentially displaced.

      Somebody should the track the Politically Correct crowd, they're the ones to watch out for.

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      Excessive forking causes un-wanted children.
    5. Re:Not to be cruel, but... by fishbowl · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "20-25 percent of homeless people are seriously mentally ill."

      But they aren't proposing tracking the diagnosed mentally ill. They are proposing tracking the *homeless* which includes a lot more than just "mentally ill" people. There are plenty of people who are homeless by choice. I know quite a few who live nomadic lives. And they are by no means mentally ill or incompetent.

      To suggest that they are not entitled to the same rights as anyone else is downright unamerican.

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      -fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
    6. Re:Not to be cruel, but... by MoggyMania · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Not just some of them, but actually the overwhelming majority. The support forums I run for cognitive disabilities have a number of people that were locked up in mental hospitals by idiots that misdiagnosed them as mentally ill -- and the one thing they *all* agree on is that the hospitals are full of cruel/unusual punishments. They also all said that they would rather be homeless (though most aren't) or dead before sent back to such places. The tales they've told about how they were treated literally make "One Flew Over A Coocoo's Nest" look like Disneyland. On top of that, there's a great deal of misinformation *within* the psychiatric industry. Common "treatments" for some things involve nothing more than physically punishing the person for showing any signs that she/he is different, and rewarding showing no sign of discomfort when exposed to physically painful stimuli. Ironically the aversives inevitably give rise to genuine mental illness in the form of severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. I agree, there should be a structured, *humane* safety net available -- one not based on forcing everybody into a one-size-fits all mold of blind obedience. Right now there's a sick duality: either you get almost no help at all, or you're basically abused. Also, a common problem for people with treatable mental illnesses (bipolar, schizophrenia,etc) is that they are stuck on various forms of financial assistance because they can't afford the medications. If they could afford the drugs, they could work, but because they can't afford them, they can't work.

  3. Works for me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now if only we could track spammers this way.

  4. Why do we kill Kenny? Because he's poor. by rdewald · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So, the bottom line here is if you want government benefits you have to give up some privacy in order to get them. Why don't we just ear-tag the homeless with RFID's and track their migration like an endangered species?

    There are a significant portion of the hard-core homeless that will simply stay off-grid, that's why they're homeless in the first place, they decline to participate. Now, these people won't be able to stay anonymous and get fed or get medical care from the government. My suspicion is that the govt. knows this well and is anticipating a reduction in cost while being able to issue press releases about the decline in the numbers of homeless as they stop coming to the clinics and kitchens.

    This is analogous to the reports in the declining unemployment rate reflected in lower numbers of people collecting unemployment insurance. It doesn't count the people that have given up, or have turned to the black/gray market for a living.

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    The best way to do is to be.
  5. Too Invasive by photoblur · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Entities that provide services would collect their names, Social Security Numbers, dates of birth, race, gender, health status (including HIV, pregnancy, and domestic violence), veteran status, and income information."

    This sounds way too invasive. It concerns me because once things like this are manditory for homeless people (it sounds like this system is moving that direction), then it will slowly be introduced to the masses.

    Start with the outcasts of society as to make a quiet entrance. Then work your way up.

    I don't like it.

  6. That's good.. by preric · · Score: 5, Funny
    Because one morning I came out to my parking space (I live in an apartment near the beach) to catch a homeless man 'cleaning' his ass crack on the corner of my truck's bumper.

    He quickly ran off... I was still in shock and not sure if I should chase him down, let alone know what to do with him once caught, but now I can track him down and do the same to his shopping cart.

    Sweet revenge!

  7. Read between the lines by rot26 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The Dept. of Housing and Urban Development is proposing a massive system of tracking for homeless people and others

    They're not going to let this go away. This is just ANOTHER back-door version of TIA. We're going to see it introduced, again and again, under various disguises until they get it implemented. You can expect to see tracking systems suggested for the homeless, pedophiles, drug dealers, spouse abusers, bail-jumpers, tax evaders, etc etc and so on and so on, (each one being some particular organizations "most wanted") until it's actually implemented. And like stone soup, once it's in place, it will be "upgraded" to include everything that anybody ever wanted.

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