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Submitted by an Anonymous Coward:
https://www.wired.com/story/license-plate-readers-political-signs-bumper-stickers/
AI-powered cameras on cars and trucks have been used to capture images of political signs, individuals wearing T-shirts with text, and vehicles displaying pro-abortion bumper stickers. The data, reviewed by WIRED, shows how a tool originally designed for traffic enforcement has evolved into a system capable of monitoring 'speech' protected by the US Constitution.
[...] Another image taken on a different day by a different vehicle shows a "Steelworkers for Harris-Walz" sign stuck in the lawn in front of someone's home. A construction worker, with his face unblurred, is pictured near another Harris sign. Other photos show Trump and Biden (including "Fuck Biden") bumper stickers on the back of trucks and cars across America. One photo, taken in November 2023, shows a partially torn bumper sticker supporting the Obama-Biden lineup.
These images were generated by AI-powered cameras mounted on cars and trucks, initially designed to capture license plates, but which are now photographing political lawn signs outside private homes, individuals wearing T-shirts with text, and vehicles displaying pro-abortion bumper stickers—all while recording the precise locations of these observations.
The detailed photographs all surfaced in search results produced by DRN Data, a license-plate-recognition (LPR) company owned by Motorola Solutions. The LPR system can be used by private investigators, repossession agents, and insurance companies. However, files shared with WIRED by artist Julia Weist show that those with access to the LPR system can search for common phrases or names, such as those of politicians, and be served with photographs where the search term is present, even if it is not displayed on license plates. The research also reveals the extent to which surveillance is happening on a mass scale in the quiet streets of America, and how people's personal political views and homes can be recorded into vast databases that can be queried.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Wednesday October 09 2024, @04:01AM (2 children)
Exactly why are we tracking my license plate, even absent any other data, if I have not committed a traffic violation (or perhaps served as a getaway car) ??
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Wednesday October 09 2024, @05:41AM (1 child)
In the UK similar 'tracking' has proven useful when, for example, a child has been abducted or a crime has recently been committed and a vehicle involved in the crime is being sought. This requires tracking data that will have been collected prior to the police knowing that it would subsequently be required. The data might have been collected for acceptable reasons e.g. traffic control, speeding offences etc, The data can be searched to find vehicles that are now known to be involved but whose whereabouts are unknown. Perhaps the vehicle has already been abandoned and therefore will not show up on any tracking from this point forward. However, historic data (even by a few minutes or hours) can provide a direction of travel, or perhaps identify the change of vehicle once the original vehicle was abandoned.
The sooner police can begin searching for a vehicle identified by a witness report, the smaller an area that needs to be searched. If they only begin tracking once they have been given the witness report that describes the vehicle - which may be hours or even days after the crime has been committed - they already have a far more difficult task.
It always surprises me that people feel that tracking vehicles is so unacceptable but they also carry a device that can enable the tracking of individual people and they keep it in their pocket. If the police can reconcile mobile phone data with wanted vehicle tracking they can sometimes identify the people involved. Yes I know that 'phones can be switched off but experience has shown that, in the UK at least, the majority of people committing crimes do NOT switch their phones off. Go figure...
Note I am not advocating increased surveillance. But if the information is already being collected for perfectly justifiable reasons then it should, in my opinion, be fully exploited when possible. I suspect that my opinion will be unpopular.
There are several comments in recent discussions saying that nobody can expect privacy when they are doing something in public. Why doesn't that include driving a vehicle?
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Wednesday October 09 2024, @08:27AM
That is true, it's been done here in the US too (to retrieve a child, or whatever). Still not a good reason for mass surveillance.
Yeah, given the "sweet spot" for criminal behavior is IQ85, that they do braindead stuff is understandable. One I heard about tried to turn in something he'd stolen for the reward. At the cop shop. How about you just sign the confession up front and cut the middleman...
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.