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The Majority of Scooters in LA Are Going To Share Your Location With the City (cnet.com)
Los Angeles is pumping the brakes on scooter companies that won't tell it what part of the city you're wheeling around. From a report: Last September, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation said it would require all scooter companies to provide real-time location data on the vehicles to help with city planning purposes. The data is collected by GPS on the scooters. The requirement raised privacy concerns because sensitive data would be handled by the city government. The government partners with data aggregators, like Remix, to analyze that information. Privacy advocacy groups, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Center for Technology and Democracy, have publicly spoken out about these data requests.
It still isn't clear how long LADOT retains the location data, and there aren't public details on what aggregators can do with that information. What is clear: Companies that don't share the data won't be allowed to put as many scooters on the streets as those that do. Companies that declined to provide the data were given a 30-day provisional permit to operate in LA, which were handed out last week, while those that agreed to hand over anonymized location data received permits for a full year.
It still isn't clear how long LADOT retains the location data, and there aren't public details on what aggregators can do with that information. What is clear: Companies that don't share the data won't be allowed to put as many scooters on the streets as those that do. Companies that declined to provide the data were given a 30-day provisional permit to operate in LA, which were handed out last week, while those that agreed to hand over anonymized location data received permits for a full year.
Yes, working for a living. That's something we all shouldn't be doing according to a large portion of the population. Instead, we should vote the correct politicians in office to give us all the food, housing, and medical attention we need without having to earn it.
Cause, it being Murica and all, that's the most likely word it could be.
Fucking rental battery powered scooters that track you, not really sure I could name anything more millennial than that
Privacy is a safety valve. The socially unacceptable often makes life enjoyable.
People who use these are also carrying cell phones, using App or card based purchasing, using Google Maps, and generally "checking in" to every place they go.
If you want privacy, leave the phone at home, take the bus or bike, and pay with cash. And wear a mask, since every store you go to is recording your face and every move.
And such a lame one at that.
Remember when trolls used to be skilled? Or funny? Or less lazy?
(Me neither.)
Another SlashDot post that serves no one over the age of 25! Psst, poster: most people over 30 don't ride scooters anymore. Your site has become shit, BTW, editors.
Of your scooter tours create any carbon footprint, which they do, because that battery is not magically charged, then society damn well deserved a justification for your frivolities. Why do you think we created global warming and climate change?
Yeah, scooter. No law abiding scooter should have anything to fear.
At least in civilized countries.
As opposed to your psychopath-Snake-Plissken-populated pre-apocalyptic degeneration zone.
Especially that picture-taking one.
The EU may be literal totalitarian (aka globalist aka imperialist) fascists (aka neocons aka libertarians) by the original definition of the word, but at least this they are starting to get down.
Who in the network of US city/state and federal data sharing will get to move new transport data round?
Usage patterns of movement?
What roads, pathways, parks need upgrades due to changes in transport usage?
Who is using what transport, where and when?
High Intensity Crime Areas? Will police get real time movements? Like with CCTV on a nice new GUI and map?
Have that new police ghost car all ready?
Will that connection with a city be worth the fake ID detection risk? To stay in a networked city with fake ID?
Got a fake ID? Using/sharing parts of another ID? Created an ID when it was more easy?
CCTV and lots of extra facial recognition will be ready to ensure all transport is working well.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
Typical clickbait headline. Nothing is being reported during the trip, and the minimal information being reported doesn't include any personally identifiable information so there's no opportunity for misuse of the data down the road. I don't see the issue -- the city certainly has an interest in knowing where these things are being littered about when they're not in use. FTFA:
"Route information is provided to the city after the trip has completed and within 24 hours and it doesn't include the name, age, gender, address of the user," the agency said in a statement. "LADOT is asking companies to provide the start trip and end trip of every vehicle as trips start and as trips end to make sure scooters are being parked legally and within the terms of the permit."
"If" your scooter tours...
Can't wait to say "We're #1!"
In oppression. Surveillance. Civilian control.
The soon to be wildly socially unacceptable e-scooter. Corrupt lobbyists got that one past. So you are going to mix, people entering and exiting buildings with motorised scooters that can do 20Km/h and carry 100kg, can you idiots not see the problems. The more you have the more problems you will have and the more actual knock down brawls you will have. In the typical American style after an incident, I paid for the scooter and I have more right to the footpath, get out of the way. Idiots will be bowling over small children all over the place. The footpath should only be for feet or and only once proven for disabled people and mobility vehicles that should move no faster than a person walking fast. Scooters are not at all manoeuvrable, tending to work best in a straight line and any sudden turn will see a 100kg rider tossed into a pedestrian at 20k/m at hour, so pretty much full running speed, a full sized human male doing a full speed running tackle on a small child, the idea is insane. Either on the road or banned and definitely no in high pedestrian flow areas. Walk in a city and you will bump into people, neither here nor there, do it at 20km/h and there will be brawls and lots of them and with fair reason when a child is seriously injured. Stop listening to idiot lobbyists pushing silly shit fed by nothing but insane greed.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
Let's hope they use the data to see what locations might benefit most from bicycle lanes! There are some promising signs - a major stretch of Santa Monica Blvd was given bicycle lanes in2018 (after many years of back and forth and opposition). It's awesome... I see bikes and scooters using it all the time.
Only problem is once you move onto the next road (e.g. Wilshire Blvd) you are back to lane-sharing with SUVs. Not sure if it's just an LA thing, but it seems the only drivers who take the lane nearest the sidewalk are a-holes trying to weave through traffic at 50mph.
The joke's on them, I'm not in LA.
I mean, I hate those dumbass scooters too, but I support them if just one will run into you.
Post all of your bank and internet account names and passwords here, after all what do you have to hide? Are you up to something you should not be?
They can track your glitch in real time as your face gets turned into hamburger when the scooter stops at speed.
If you've got warrants and rent a scooter and police have to chase you while you're trying to evade them on it, you'll be internet-famous in about 3 seconds. That's definitely cruel and unusual punishment. This is clearly not constitutional.
That's not "city planning purposes", that's law enforcement. And that is a whole different kettle of fish.
Relax, LA is not enforcing data sharing on all scooter manufacturers, this is just for the rental companies that offer scooters within that specific city.
For all you ANTIFA in California, this is the very definition of FASCISM. It's a forced partnership between corporations and government.
Of course it's rentals, and everybody knows that. These things are almost all rentals; practically nobody buys them.
The lesson technology companies seem to be teaching us in the 21st century is NOT to use technology companies. Interesting business plan. I await the internet 2.0 where companies figure out they will get customers if they actually offer privacy features.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
The scooters don't share your location with LA, they share their location. Only the scooter company tracks where you are going - which you somehow don't care about.
Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
The scooters don't share your location with LA, they share their location. Only the scooter company tracks where you are going - which you somehow don't care about.
The scooter company knows who took that trip. LA can use that information to determine that a scooter user was in the area, then use a warrant to get the identifying information. They can also correlate the scooter data with other data in order to identify users.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Sure sure - until the usage database is cross referenced with the payment database. I'm sure the NSA will never think of doing that.