If you have an IP-enabled security camera, you can download some free, open-source software from GitHub and boom—you have a fully functional automated license plate reader, reports ArsTechnica .
Matt Hill, OpenALPR's founder, told Ars technica "I'm a big privacy advocate... now you've got LPR just in the hands of the government, which isn't a good thing."
Will "they" like it when "we" have a crowdsourced database of where and when congressmen, judges and cops go throughout their work day?
Does this level the playing field? Open yet another can of worms? Both?
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Monday December 07 2015, @02:46AM
Okay, I'll bite. How do you propose we take surveillance and guns out of the hands of the government?
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 07 2015, @03:29AM
The government is purely a creation of laws. We need to put in place laws that control it' use of surveillance. The same way we have laws that prevent the government from just taking citizen's property and murdering people in the dead of night. To argue otherwise is to simply give up on the concept of democracy, you would be advocating a return to monarchy or oligarchy or some other non-representative form of government.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 07 2015, @03:33AM
The same way we have laws that prevent the government from just taking citizen's property and murdering people in the dead of night.
In the US, the former is called assert forfeiture, and the latter happens because of the drug war. We should work to fix these issues, but the point is, they are not yet fixed, or at least not in the US.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 07 2015, @04:37AM
Who cares about that point? The war on drugs and asset forfeiture are both creations of law. They can be uncreated by law as well. Focus, man, focus!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 07 2015, @05:10AM
No, they are violations of law. Asset forfeiture, as often practiced, is a complete violation of the constitution. The drug war often uses unconstitutional methods as well. What we need is accountability for those who break the law and the politicians create the unconstitutional laws and policies. Instead, if the courts care about the constitution at all, the offending laws or policies simply get overturned, but the enforcers and creators of those laws and policies are never punished.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 07 2015, @12:54PM
Sounds like you are endorsing a government that is rule of man not rule of law. Good luck with that.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 07 2015, @02:42PM
Just the opposite. I want the government to follow the constitution, which is the highest law of the land. I want those in the government who violate the constitution to be punished for doing so. That's the rule of law.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 07 2015, @03:09PM
So you are telling me that the solution is to use laws?
Where have I heard that before?
Oh. It was my post that you said was wrong.
You dumbass.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Monday December 07 2015, @02:10PM
I favor hanging. That would send a clear message.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 07 2015, @03:07PM
Because public executions have totally eliminated corruption in China...