Slashdot Mirror
Social Media a Threat To Undercover Cops
angry tapir writes "Facebook has proven to be one of the biggest dangers in keeping undercover police officers safe, due to applications such as facial recognition and photo tagging, according to an adjunct professor at ANU and Charles Sturt University. Mick Keelty, a former Australian Federal Police commissioner, told the audience at Security 2011 in Sydney that because of the convergence of a number of technologies undercover policing may be 'impossible' in the future."
They already do. It is, however, a bit hard to get to.
You needn't be part of Facebook to suddenly be profiled. All you need is a friend who's insensitive enough to tag you on their photo gallery.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Poor people tend to be more afraid of the police than anybody else. I don't know where you get your information, but "upper middle class white suburban" people are the most likely to support the police. Most people see any interaction with a police officer as a cause for concern, and this fear is based on previous interactions. The only upper middle class white suburban-ites that fear police are kids who are out getting into trouble. All poor people need fear them every day. In a lot of ways, police consider poverty as probable cause, and in any case, they know they can hassle poor people without fear of being sued, especially if they are illegal immigrants.
I get my information from experience and observation. While upper middle class white suburban people may support the police in general, the subset that are slashdot posters tend to be anti-authoritarian but also have a lifelong experience of being insulated from crime. Poorer communities distrust the police, but they would not want them completely absent; since they are most at risk for being crime victims, they do want them there at some level.