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Microsoft, NYC Marketing Vast Surveillance System To Other Cities

Posted by timothy on from the they're-so-very-scrupulous-you-needn't-worry dept.

Presto Vivace writes with this snippet from the New York Times: "'In the six months since the Domain Awareness System was unveiled, officials of Microsoft, which designed the system with the New York Police Department, said they have been surprised by the response and are actively negotiating with a number of prospective buyers, whom Microsoft declined to identify.' Don't want this in your city? You might want to let your local leadership know how you feel."

5 of 60 comments (clear)

  1. But who watches the watchers? by FreekyGeek · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As usual, no information about oversight, abuse detection, or anything similar. It's the same old "just trust us, we won't use our powerful new toy for anything bad, we promise." Puh-lease. The same people who claim that law abiding citizens with nothing to hide shouldn't care about privacy-invading constant surveillance are also the peopel who do their utmost to make darn sure no one can oobserve *their* activities or punish *them* for any infractions. "We don't trust you at all, but we expect you to just trust us." I'm so filled with confidence.

    1. Re:But who watches the watchers? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Jim Pasco was quite straightforward about it.

      Police officers, he told NPR, “need to move quickly, in split seconds, without giving a lot of thought to what the adverse consequences for them might be.” He added that law enforcement authorities believe “that anything that’s going to have a chilling effect on an officer moving — an apprehension that he’s being videotaped and may be made to look bad — could cost him or some citizen their life.”"

    2. Re:But who watches the watchers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      And not watching the police can cost lives, too.

    3. Re:But who watches the watchers? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Insightful

      With a sufficiently advanced system, such malfunctions could probably even be automated for greater safety and efficiency!

    4. Re:But who watches the watchers? by FreekyGeek · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Tough shit for the police. They have to deal with the same shit everyone else does, poor things. Guess what - we ALL would like to be able to act "without worrying about adverse consequences" - that sure would be nice! Golly, I know I'd like it if my employer promised not to monitor me. I'm apprehensive about being videotaped, too, but I can't do anything about it.

      If you're a cop and can't do your job without worrying that you'll violate someone's rights on camera and get caught, well - QUIT NOW, thanks.

      I'm not saying cops should have to get permission in triplicate before taking any action, but their actions should be recorded just like citizens are recorded, those recordings should be accessible to the puiblic, and police should be held accountable for their actions. What Jim Pasco seems to think is that it's OK for police to record citizens in case they are breaking the law, but not OK for police to be recorded in case *they* are breaking the law.