It's Not Just the NSA: Police Are Tracking Your Car

New submitter blastboy writes "Every day in Britain, a vast system of cameras tracks cars on the road, feeding their movements into a database used by police. And because that data is networked, cops can use it to go back in time — or even predict your movements. But even though there are serious concerns about the technology, and it's regularly been abused by law enforcement, it has now been exported by the Brits and put in place by police departments around the world."

Comments

Well this is necessary

[Anonymous Coward]

Government surveillance is necessary in this date and age to protect not only our Freedoms but also our security.

England, the USofA, and the rest of the Free World have fought a long and hard battle against totalitarian, oppressive and stifling governments. And with the current trend of indiscriminate searching, monitoring and spying on its citizens, the Free World will stay free.

Re:Well this is necessary

[SirGarlon]

I think this is a case where Poe's Law applies.

Re:Well this is necessary

[Subm]

I think this is a case where Poe's Law applies.

I think this is a case where whoosh! applies.

It's not all a downward slide

[SirGarlon]

Boston police apparently abandoned their license-plate reading program after reporters found out they weren't using it for the stated purpose of finding stolen vehicles.

Of course, it is easier to get a crooked, ineffective police program killed when it is funded from the local budget, not windfall "homeland security" dollars in the US.

Quite a bit different than NSA tracking

[John3]

Tracking the movements of vehicles is quite a bit different than tracking cell phone conversations. There is no expectation of privacy when driving a vehicle on public roads. Operating a vehicle (at least in the US) is heavily regulated, requiring registration of the vehicle, insurance, and licensed operators. In my area, in addition to the traffic cameras there are license plate scanners on most police vehicles. They scan and record the plates of vehicles as the police drive around town, popping up an alert if they get a "hit" on a vehicle with issues (suspended registration, insurance, or involvement in a crime). You're also tracked via tolls (EZ Pass in my area) and gasoline purchases (credit card data), but the police don't have easy access to that data without a subpoena.

Re:Quite a bit different than NSA tracking

[Nidi62]

If there's no expectation of privacy on public roads, then why do people get freaked out if they notice someone following them?

For the same reason people don't worry that people can see them when they are out in public, but freak out when they notice someone staring at them. You are being singled out and focused on, and probably not for something good.

Re:Quite a bit different than NSA tracking

[SirGarlon]

I only agree there is "no expectation of privacy" for a car in the sense that cars are not invisible. If my car is parked outside Starbucks, then anyone on the street can see it, and it is not a breach of my privacy to say "I saw Sir Garlon's car parked at Starbucks this morning." This is perfectly reasonable.

It is one hell of a leap from there to "it's perfectly OK for the government to track someone's vehicle 24/7." Pretending that "no expectation of privacy" in the first sense is congruent with "no expectation of privacy" in the second sense is totally disingenuous. As Jules from Pulp Fiction said, that "ain't the same ballpark, ain't the same league, ain't even the same fuckin' sport!"

Re:State Abuse...

[TheCarp]

I could have sworn it wasn't meant to be taken as an instruction manual. Possibly the worst mistake since that whole fiasco about serving man.

Which, coincidently is the movie reference that pops into my head whenever I see a cop car with "to protect and serve"

"Expectation of privacy"

[mrchaotica]

You know what? Fuck all this "no expectation of privacy" bullshit!

Sure, anything people do in public could be observed. But those are the keywords: "anything could." Not "everything will." And certainly not "everything will be observed and then get stored forever in an instantly-searchable government database!"

This Orwellian shit needs to stop.