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At Canadian Airports, Your Conversation May Be Remotely Recorded

Posted by timothy on from the perfecting-recipe-for-boiled-frog dept.

New Jazari writes "Careful what you say when traveling, since the authorities will soon be able to zoom in on your conversations and record them for an indefinite amount of time. The story is about Canada, but I see no reason to think that this capability will not soon be installed in most places (if it's not already)."

9 of 211 comments (clear)

  1. Oh wow. by NettiWelho · · Score: 5, Interesting

    And that is actually legal?

    1. Re:Oh wow. by zero.kalvin · · Score: 5, Funny

      Doesn't matter. My conversation would be about pictures you see in 4chan and poop. I bet you if enough people do that, they will stop recording...

    2. Re:Oh wow. by buchner.johannes · · Score: 5, Informative

      Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ratified by all western countries, states:

      "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks."

      I don't know if you have a Court of Human Rights in Northern America, but that's the final instance that should grant you your human right for privacy.

      --
      NB: The message above might reflect my opinion right now, but not necessarily tomorrow or next year.
    3. Re:Oh wow. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That's the stupidest thing I've heard in a while. Please read the entry again, then come back.

      I wake up every day at 6 am and I go to the park. There's absolutely nobody there at that time, except for me and my wife. If I talk to my wife while I'm there, do you seriously expect me to assume that "somebody could have listened to us"?

      This is like walking around with a stranger listening closely to everything you say, even if you say it in a very low voice.

      I'm afraid I can't accept that.

    4. Re:Oh wow. by Mindcontrolled · · Score: 5, Funny

      There's the thing - anyone listening to it won't be a human, but a program, at least in the long run. And when you drive that completely insane, well, that way lies Skynet. Ever wondered why our robotic overlords would want to exterminate us? Here's the reason...

      --
      Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
  2. This will surely stop terrorists by Froeschle · · Score: 5, Funny

    I feel safer already!

  3. Re:FIRST things FIRST by garcia · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Who gives a shit who was first? It's a bunch of wasted effort.

    Terrorists are going to do shit that authorities are not going to be able to combat with tools like these. The terrorists know there are checkpoints and their limitations. They know their conversation may be overheard so they don't talk. They know that they could walk into a mall or megachurch and do the same damage they did with an airplane.

    We're wasting our fucking time and money chasing ghosts which will bite us in the ass regardless of the freedoms we continue to happily and passively give up.

  4. Ridiculous by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    This is ridiculous, I use to do risk assessments and anti-terrorism work in the aviation sector protecting airport assets and I see no practical reason for listening in on conversations. If a threat is already within the area-of-interest then you've this doesn't help with detection because the main threats we are meant to look for these days aren't the sort of people who are going to go blabbing on their cellphone about what they're about to do within the AOI. This technology does nothing about reducing attack surface area or reducing the impact of a successful attack. However, if we shift focus away from anti-terrorism this technology becomes slightly more useful in monitoring crime within airports, which believe it or not, happens more often then you think. Either way, it's still unethical and I know that this would be illegal in the jurisdiction I worked in at least.

  5. Re:FIRST things FIRST by reboot246 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The real terrorists are the ones who record your private conversations in airports.