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from the my-thermostat-is-holding-me-hostage dept.
In more than 30 interviews with The New York Times, domestic abuse victims, their lawyers, shelter workers and emergency responders described how the technology was becoming an alarming new tool. Abusers - using apps on their smartphones, which are connected to the internet-enabled devices - would remotely control everyday objects in the home, sometimes to watch and listen, other times to scare or show power. Even after a partner had left the home, the devices often stayed and continued to be used to intimidate and confuse.
Connected home devices have increasingly cropped up in domestic abuse cases over the past year, according to those working with victims of domestic violence. Those at help lines said more people were calling in the last 12 months about losing control of Wi-Fi-enabled doors, speakers, thermostats, lights and cameras. Lawyers also said they were wrangling with how to add language to restraining orders to cover smart home technology.
(Score: 3, Informative) by AthanasiusKircher on Tuesday June 26 2018, @02:20PM (2 children)
I agree, though they're probably doing this in addition to working on restraining orders. (And I would challenge "vastly easier" as a characterization. One likely involves drafting new boilerplate language that could just be stuck in a standard restraining order. The other likely requires very specific interventions and an understanding of the specific tech in the home.)
The whole point of a "restraining order" is to practice prior restraint and prevent harassment from continuing. It's clear if you read TFA that many of the victims here didn't even know the capabilities of the smart devices that were installed in their homes, so they were surprised when their systems were suddenly manipulated remotely.
If you've ever had a friend who was the victim of harassment, you'd understand the paranoia that can set in. This abuse of home tech sounds like an absolute nightmare to me for victims. The whole point of restraining orders is to make the harassment stop, and finding a wording that prevents an abuser from manipulating technology in the home of their victim sounds like a perfectly reasonable stipulation.
Yep, but those are different from the restraining order. With a restraining order, an abuser is criminally liable for entering a house without invitation or placing harassing calls even if the locks aren't changed or the telephone number remains the same.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday June 26 2018, @06:39PM (1 child)
But Joe Random Hacker in Canada or Mumbai might stumble on a password somehow, maybe gifted, maybe posted.
Restraining orders are utterly ineffective against clever people.
I listen to police radio as a hobby. These are the lowest possible police dispatches unless the violator happens to have a warrant outstanding already.
ROs are the trailer park security blanket.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 26 2018, @11:59PM
I disagree with that they are utterly ineffective. But, the reality is that the system is also abused by some (many?) 'drama queens' where the harassment is mostly in their own mind.
I know someone that is a bit 'cookoo' and over the years has had a restraining order taken out on at least half dozen of her longish term boyfriends after she broke up. Most of these guys were not the harassing/controlling type, and the narrative would always go like this: She'd call them after the break up to try to get back together or to tell them they could come over to her place to get whatever XYZ they'd left behind. So they'd come over and she'd yell and throw physical objects at them. They'd inevitably do something physical to avoid getting pummelled by household objects and in a ranting huff of retaliatory rage leave, probably hoping to never hear or see her again. A week later they'd be served with a 'restraining order'. Same story, every guy. Albeit, some of the guys were dickheads, but definitely not restraining order material.
It's just easier for the court to issue the restraining order, with the thinking that if the guy isn't coming back anyway then what harm is there in a 'spurious' restraining order. If the above happens often enough, I could imagine why the police think they are useless.