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Seattle To Remove Controversial City Spying Network After Public Backlash (seattletimes.com)
schwit1 shares a report from Activist Post: Following years of resistance from citizens, the city of Seattle has decided to completely remove controversial surveillance equipment -- at a cost of $150,000. In November 2013, Seattle residents pushed back against the installation of several mesh network nodes attached to utility poles around the downtown area. The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington and privacy advocates were immediately concerned about the ability of the nodes to gather user information via the Wi-Fi connection. The Seattle Times reports on the latest developments: "Seattle's wireless mesh network, a node of controversy about police surveillance and the role of federal funding in city policing, is coming down. Megan Erb, spokeswoman for Seattle Information Technology, said the city has budgeted $150,000 for contractor Prime Electric and city employees to remove dozens of surveillance cameras and 158 'wireless access points' -- little, off-white boxes with antennae mounted on utility poles around the city."
The nodes were purchased by the Seattle Police Department via a $3.6 million grant from the Department of Homeland Security. The Seattle Police Department argued the network would be helpful for protecting the port and for first-responder communication during emergencies. As the Times notes, "the mesh network, according to the ACLU, news reports and anti-surveillance activists from Seattle Privacy Coalition, had the potential to track and log every wireless device that moved through its system: people attending protests, people getting cups of coffee, people going to a hotel in the middle of the workday." However, by November 2013, SPD spokesman Sean Whitcomb announced, "The wireless mesh network will be deactivated until city council approves a draft (privacy) policy and until there's an opportunity for vigorous public debate." The privacy policy for the network was never developed and, instead, the city has now opted to remove the devices at a cost of $150,000. The Times notes that, "crews are tearing its hardware down and repurposing the usable parts for other city agencies, including Seattle Department of Transportation traffic cameras."
The nodes were purchased by the Seattle Police Department via a $3.6 million grant from the Department of Homeland Security. The Seattle Police Department argued the network would be helpful for protecting the port and for first-responder communication during emergencies. As the Times notes, "the mesh network, according to the ACLU, news reports and anti-surveillance activists from Seattle Privacy Coalition, had the potential to track and log every wireless device that moved through its system: people attending protests, people getting cups of coffee, people going to a hotel in the middle of the workday." However, by November 2013, SPD spokesman Sean Whitcomb announced, "The wireless mesh network will be deactivated until city council approves a draft (privacy) policy and until there's an opportunity for vigorous public debate." The privacy policy for the network was never developed and, instead, the city has now opted to remove the devices at a cost of $150,000. The Times notes that, "crews are tearing its hardware down and repurposing the usable parts for other city agencies, including Seattle Department of Transportation traffic cameras."
Die, big brother. Keep that shit in the UK.
Have gnu, will travel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_City_Council
8 democrats and 1 socialist.
Go on though, explain to us how it's Trump's fault. Or maybe Russia's.
I am guessing you are liberal so anything you perceive is bad is from Republicans? I would say it is the state that wants to spy and they are as bad as each other, except that the liberals are better at the blame game. These are not spy cameras but "citizen safety cameras"
You can't handle the truth! - Because I don't post left all my comments get modded down, bye bye Karma.
liberals are better at the blame game.
I'm not liberal, but about all I ever see Trump do is blame others.
Mike @ The Geek Pub. Let's Make Stuff!
But what the fuck on the wifi mesh routers:
A. Most modern wifi enabled devices support changing your hw address.
B. Most people, especially the poor need internet access to help continue/reintegrate in the world.
C. Red light and traffic cameras are now a much bigger threat than a dainty number of wifi node based cameras. And that is excluding if they've been working out backroom deals with local companies who can just provide them a live feed from their loss prevention/outdoor security cameras without warrant/privacy complaints anyways.
I am not seeing the rationale of this particular shutdown without hard pushes for any of those other systems as well. Nor why this is getting such a huge outcry but those aforementioned systems are not. What about bus security cameras for that matter? You only need a few frames off a bus, either inside, or viewing the street to place someone at the 'scene', and I imagine seattle already has those as well.
yes this is quite a (captcha!) quagmire!
But...but...but...what about your safety? If you have nothing to hide, what's the problem? It could stop a crime bla bla bla bla. I thought Seattle was "progressive" (ie: liberal, socialist etc). You mean you want your RIGHTS protected? What about the common good? What about bla bla bla. hahahaha...Seattle....lDIOTS
Did you miss the part of the story that this network was purchased and installed by the police department using "anti-terrorist" funds.
"Be particularly skeptical when presented with evidence confirming what you already believe." -
All they had to do was offer free wifi as well and the public would have ate it up. The real story is how most citizens are voluntarily carrying unique radio beacons 24x7 these days.
but no one talks about that except the crazies right...
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I, too, am absolutely astonished by the cost. Not for being high, but actually for being unusually low for Seattle... the city that spent north of $60,000 per bike rack installation. $150k for an entire project!? Fuck, that's cheap!
Oh. So if the police department purchased it using "free WiFi" funds, that would be cool then?
Marketing really IS everything ...
I do not think you would find resistance from the military if you organized a million man march hell bent on tearing the white house apart with torches rifles and grenades.
You would be wrong, then. The armies of first world nations generally do not operate like they do in whatever shithole you're from. We're not big on military coups.
Sorry, people. If you're basically trying to solve the problem by forcing the entities you know to stop gathering data that's publicly out there, you've lost already. The entities who collect it will just be the ones you don't know...
It's not like the data isn't out there any more. And then governments, when they want/need it, will buy it from that megacorporation that did manage to gather the data without your protests.
so the teachers could get part time jobs. Meanwhile we've got $3.6 million dollar grants for public surveillance. Man, my country has it's head on backwards.
There's always money for stuff like this and bombs but whenever I hear somebody mention underfunded schools somebody chimes in with "Well why should I have to pay for kids in another state?". These folks argue that they don't want money spent on either schools or surveillance, but those same folks always vote in the guys that approve the surveillance. At a certain point what you say you want doesn't matter. It's the results of your voting record that count.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
$150k is only for the removal of those cameras. The original cost was $3.6 million (paid by a grant from the DHS). However, the article doesn't say if the contractors removing the cameras get to keep them. If they were to keep them, I would expect some companies would be ready to offer to do that removal work for free.
Honestly still have no idea why you people do not rise up against him.
Because 40% of these fuckwits are paid shills, 50% are Russian bots, and the other 10% are too afraid to leave their basement without being escorted by their wife's boyfriend.
Mind you, all of the above are a drop in the bucket.
Why will you not rise? Why will you not act? What the holy hell is wrong with you all?
Roughly a quarter of the country voted for Trump. Taxes have been cut and ICE is deporting like fucking madmen. They've no reason to be butthurt.
Roughly half the country didn't vote at all. Dudes not being allowed to piss in women's bathrooms aren't anything they're going to get uppity about.
Roughly a quarter of the country voted for Hillary. Of that quarter, the vast majority voted simply because of usual politics, not, "ZOMG HITLER REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
The simple fact is that life is good, the economy is kicking ass, and there are only two genders. The fuck do you want people to rise up about and revolt? Mean tweets?
Shit, go slap yourself with Lyndon B's Johnson for being that fucking retarded to even think that's a possibility.
Seattle has a crime problem, homeless problem, and a handicapped police department. The city council is broken, so full of pet causes, they don't actually get any work done. One of the City council members recently complained because the transportation department removed some homeless people from under a bridge to install a fence, this was after the homeless people set fires under a key part of the bridge and were offered relocation assistance.
The police department cant even enforce laws without the city council jumping down on them, or the city prosecutors refusing to charge people. A lot of officers feel like they can't do their job now.
As for these camera, they were installed in parks and other places where there are crime problems. But, whoa, the ultra liberal citizenry of Seattle has a hard time recognizing crime, and benefits of law enforcement and deterrent techniques.
I'd like to know that myself. Was the primary purpose tracking people's phones or providing public wifi?
I just aim a BB Gun at them from across the way. It's much cheaper, and a better investment of tax dollars.
And, if they find out you'll get free room and board, plus lots and lots of sex! See it's a win-win.
If they could now, start removing and dismantling all the plate readers, traffic intersection cameras, etc....that would be nice.
I'm not speaking only specifically for Seattle, but in general across the US.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
The stadium offer referred to was the Chris Hansen/SODO district deal and wouldn't not have cost a single dime of public money. Hopefully you know what SODO is, because without the other 2 stadiums (CenturyLink and Safco Field) down there it would be a total dump.
What most people don't realize is that the Feds use any location they own or lease to install similar surveillance, as does King County, and the State of Washington, and the Port of Seattle. Which gives you full surveillance over pretty much half of Seattle.
Ask the correct questions. All they removed are the ones that were on city property.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Frankly I have no issues at all with 100% surveillance at all times, even within my own home.
Not sure if trolling, or just completely oblivious to the danger to freedom that a complete lack of privacy entails.
There's already a place where security is very high and there is no expectation of privacy at all. It's called prison. Perhaps you'd enjoy living in one.
Who is to say? Sounds very much an opinion of who you ask, and only certain people would have full knowledge of what was behind the scenes.
I'm extremely glad privacy won for once. I just hope their crime doesn't go up because of it. The eternal trade off I suppose.
Why? You have no expectation of privacy in public. This is actually covered under the first amendment. This is why anybody can photograph anybody else in public without consent. You just can't use their likeness to market something.
Yes, but I do think I have a reasonable expectation (especially with plate readers) to not be actively cataloged as to my whereabouts and easily followed daily and logged into systems that can at will re-create my travels and traverses during my days.
I don't so much mind being "seen"....I just don't want to be logged and tracked, the govt has no reason to know or keep that information if I"m not being actively suspected of a crime.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
I do not think you would find resistance from the military if you organized a million man march %%%% bent on tearing the white house apart with torches rifles and grenades.
Perhaps not the military, since their mission is not domestic peacekeeping or law enforcement, but certainly police and if it really were a million people the national guard. Depending on how close they actually got to the White House, the Secret Service, and make no mistake about it, those guys are willing to shoot to kill to protect the President. Though I'm guessing he would be in Marine One and out of there long before a mob reached the White House.
And yet people are attacked in prisons all the time. That would tend to cast some doubt on his assertion that total surveillance would lead to total lawfulness.
Holds true to the expression that those that give up essential liberty in exchange for a little temporary safety would deserve neither.
So this is your opinion then? Good luck getting congress to pick up your ideas and create law based on them.