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Driving somewhere? There's a gov't record of that

danarhea

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Chances are, your local or state police departments have photographs of your car in their files, noting where you were driving on a particular day, even if you never did anything wrong.

Using automated scanners, law enforcement agencies across the country have amassed millions of digital records on the location and movement of every vehicle with a license plate, according to a study published Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union. Affixed to police cars, bridges or buildings, the scanners capture images of passing or parked vehicles and note their location, uploading that information into police databases. Departments keep the records for weeks or years, sometimes indefinitely.

The Police State is on steroids, and our freedoms are on life support.

Article is here.
 
The Police State is on steroids, and our freedoms are on life support.

Article is here.

Had my old beater Merc diesel stolen recently. The trick hood and the fact the shut off circuit isn't working thwarted them.

The cop who was on scene when we went to get it said that they have a camera in the light bar that reads license plates and alerts them if one is found that they are looking for. Stolen, used in a crime, Amber Alert, whatever.
 
Oh noes. Big deal. I love the police state. We need more of it frankly, not less.
 
Oh noes. Big deal. I love the police state. We need more of it frankly, not less.

And it's people like you that will be screaming, "Why is this happening?" once your beloved police state turns on you. You'll have no one to blame but yourself because you condone it.
 
The Police State is on steroids, and our freedoms are on life support.

Article is here.


Yet many places are whining that they need to raise taxes.If the government has money to spy on and track tax payers then it has too much money period.
 
I want to know what freedom you all feel is being restricted by these images being taken. Your car is in public. It aids in preventing and stopping crimes. What exactly is it hurting? How is it violating any specific right of any individual?
 
Yeah, I'm not going to get too excited about this one, since it really has been a godsend in finding abducted kids, stolen cars, hit and runs, all kinds of criminal acts.
 
Yeah, I'm not going to get too excited about this one, since it really has been a godsend in finding abducted kids, stolen cars, hit and runs, all kinds of criminal acts.

So the chance of something good happen trumps the fact that the government is spying on its citizens??
 
I want to know what freedom you all feel is being restricted by these images being taken. Your car is in public. It aids in preventing and stopping crimes. What exactly is it hurting? How is it violating any specific right of any individual?

Who cares if my car is outside in the public? Why does the government need to be taking pictures of it and then storing that on file??

It completely disgusts me that people are fine with being spied on if it stops crime.
 
Who cares if my car is outside in the public? Why does the government need to be taking pictures of it and then storing that on file??

It completely disgusts me that people are fine with being spied on if it stops crime.

That's an odd statement coming from you, Henrin...almost paradoxical in some strange way. I think that the way you feel about this issue...is in the same way women feel when government wants to force ultrasounds on them. And you support that.
 
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That's an odd statement coming from you, Henrin...almost paradoxical in some strange way. I think that they way you feel about this issue...is in the same way women feel when government wants to force ultrasounds on them. And you support that.

What?! I don't support mandated ultrasounds.
 
Who cares if my car is outside in the public? Why does the government need to be taking pictures of it and then storing that on file??

It completely disgusts me that people are fine with being spied on if it stops crime.

Why not? What is the difference if it is just random pictures being taken by the public or a random police officer with a very good memory who is able to recognize certain cars whenever they are in the area? It isn't hurting you. I just don't understand the issue.
 
Why not? What is the difference if it is just random pictures being taken by the public or a random police officer with a very good memory who is able to recognize certain cars whenever they are in the area? It isn't hurting you. I just don't understand the issue.

Information. There is vast difference between cameras(or in this case pictures being taken) being everywhere knowing whatever we do and cop walking around on the street. The officer as you say must remember what he sees, but when you can store information and retrieve it later you can learn a great more about people and how they behave and how they are as people. The more you know the more effective you can be towards what you decide to do.
 
Information. There is vast difference between cameras(or in this case pictures being taken) being everywhere knowing whatever we do and cop walking around on the street. The officer as you say must remember what he sees, but when you can store information and retrieve it later you can learn a great more about people and how they behave and how they are as people. The more you know the more effective you can be towards what you decide to do.

Ok, but how is that in any way a violation against you? You can't argue a privacy right for things you do in public so I can't imagine how anyone would challenge this.
 
Ok, but how is that in any way a violation against you? You can't argue a privacy right for things you do in public so I can't imagine how anyone would challenge this.

Just because it's in public doesn't permit the government to watch me with any device they see fit and gather endless amounts of information about me.
 
Just because it's in public doesn't permit the government to watch me with devices they see fit and gather endless amounts of information about me.

Why not? What is the legal argument? There is no reasonable expectation of privacy when you do something in public.
 
Why not? What is the legal argument? There is no reasonable expectation of privacy when you do something in public.

Why must I need a reasonable exception of privacy so that government doesn't spy on me? Why can't they just not, you know, do it.
 
Why must I need a reasonable exception of privacy so that government doesn't spy on me? Why can't they just not, you know, do it.

What else would you try to argue? 'I don't like it' isn't exactly a persuasive legal argument if you want it stopped.
 
How dare they record what intersections I drive through, one more of my freedoms flushed down the drain! Maybe I should only take public transit now so they can't track me, oh wait that's a government service I would never use that!

..... it's one thing to be mad at internet and phone record privacy invasion, but lets be real here, if you feel threatened by this then you have to be paranoid, why do you care if they know you drove through a certain intersection at a certain time? If a criminal stole a certain car they can search records to see if that car was in the area etc.... it actually is a pretty efficient way to solve crimes and what not.
 
What else would you try to argue? 'I don't like it' isn't exactly a persuasive legal argument if you want it stopped.

Sorry, but the government must warrant it's actions, not the other way around. I don't need to make an argument on they can't do something, they must tell me why they can. Saying that I can't expect privacy in a given situation is not good enough. They should not be able to log my daily affairs and keep them on record nor should they be able to watch me on the street with devices for police purposes. If they want to watch me they can get out there and put cops on the streets. I imagine a cop on every corner and not a camera though will make people like yourself start thinking to.
 
How dare they record what intersections I drive through, one more of my freedoms flushed down the drain! Maybe I should only take public transit now so they can't track me, oh wait that's a government service I would never use that!

What about side walks or other areas they watch right this very minute? Are you fine with that? Do you like your big brother? Does he keep you safe enough yet? Why don't you get him to watch you and not me, ok?
 
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