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Hidden Microphones Part of Government Surveillance Program in the Bay Area

sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com

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Re: Hidden Microphones Part of Government Surveillance Program in the Bay Area

#41

Post by hola_hola »

pessimizer wrote: post #33
NotSammyHagar wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pessimizer, I think you are wrong, I agree with Stanislav. Republicans don't believe in the right to privacy, they use that as the reason why Texas should be able to restrict dildo sales (among many other things :-)), for instance, and conservatives use their disbelief in privacy to argue they should be able to legislate against consensual sex practices they don't like. Dems generally do support a right to privacy in…

Instead of depending on generalizations, I'd say that without Clarence Thomas and Scalia (and also Ginsberg, Breyer, and Souter), it would be legal today to record what goes on inside your home without a warrant. So to generalize about conservatives or liberals in this case would probably not be helpful because both the liberal-leaning and the conservative-leaning justices split. What is absolutely true is that the t…

Trump has no principles and flip-flops every other second so how can you know what he will do?

Re: Hidden Microphones Part of Government Surveillance Program in the Bay Area

#42

Post by lawpoop »

pessimizer wrote: post #25
lawpoop wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First, Supreme Court Justices are pretty much inscrutable as far as their jurisprudence before they join the bench (see: just about any justice in modern history). Knowing anything about the president's political leanings tells us next to nothing about how their nominees will decide cases, beyond knowing the nominee themself. Second, as soon as Trump and Clinton are locked in (after the conventions), the Republicans…

This is a possibility, but if they don't cave, Clinton is not putting in Merrick Garland. And I don't know that Merrick Garland has any sympathy for Scalia's argument. This is a case where the more liberal justices tended towards an anti-fourth argument as long as the surveillance was done in a public place, and neither Obama nor Clinton have shown themselves to have a problem with universal surveillance that I'm awa…

There's no reason they won't cave. McConnell even put forth Garland as a nominee they'd like to see from Obama, even though "he'd never nominate him".

I was going to say this is the devil they know, but in this case, it's actually the devil they've wanted.

Re: Hidden Microphones Part of Government Surveillance Program in the Bay Area

#43

Post by woodman »

pessimizer wrote: post #38
woodman wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The only thing keeping laser microphones... The legality has nothing to do with it, as it has been demonstrated over and over that law enforcement will employ methods that can charitably be described as "legally questionable" and then attempt to hide it (see stingray). What is stopping them is limitations imposed by the physical world - both in number of windows and the fact that laser mics don't work the way they'…

Laser mics can get better, and I've got a window in every room but the closets.

I was pointing more to the fact that angle of incidence needs to be carefully figured into the placement of both the emitter and receiver - for every window. Better laser mics won't change laser physics or the logistical challenges.

Re: Hidden Microphones Part of Government Surveillance Program in the Bay Area

#44

Post by squarology »

BurningFrog wrote: post #14
mike_hock wrote: post #4

> If you're going to conduct criminal activity, do it in the privacy of your own home. > That was the original intention of the 4th amendment. Wat. The intention of the 4th amendment was to enable criminal activity, but confine it to private property? Not to protect citizens' privacy from government snooping without probable cause? The intent was to prevent the executive branch from indiscriminately "searching" (and…

With the semi-libertarian concept of "crime" the founders had, it is quite hard to commit a crime in your own home.

ummm... murder?

Re: Hidden Microphones Part of Government Surveillance Program in the Bay Area

#46

Post by imaginenore »

maxxxxx wrote: post #2

If that's true we are moving into a scary world pretty much like 1984 where everything you do is monitored all the time. Add voice, face recognition, surveillance drones, cheap data storage and AI to the mix it seems pretty soon everything you do in a public place will be recorded and analyzed. And all this can be done fully automated. I hope people will recognize that some laws need to change. Surveillance makes sen…

You can't have an expectation of privacy in public places.

Facial recognition can be beat by a hat + sunglasses (which is the hugest plot hole in Person of Interest, the characters never even attempt to disguise themselves).

Re: Hidden Microphones Part of Government Surveillance Program in the Bay Area

#48

Post by dredmorbius »

partisan wrote: post #45
nxzero wrote: post #13

When will people say enough is enough?

When it is too late? We're still at the phase where people say, "This doesn't impact me", or "I have nothing to hide".

Or David Brin's view that transparency solves everything.

Re: Hidden Microphones Part of Government Surveillance Program in the Bay Area

#50

Post by x5n1 »

bobhaigler wrote: post #28

It's not the best reporting, but from what I can tell, the FBI is collecting evidence against auction bidders who allegedly conspire to pay less for foreclosed real-estate. The auctions take place on the courthouse steps, and the bidders have been accused of working together to keep prices low by intimidating some bidders and conspiring with others. I'd love to see the auctions moved to a website marketplace. Maybe a…

You mean like http://www.auction.com Real Estate Auction for Homes and Commercial Real Estate? Yes they definitely should do that... ;)
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