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Maps Showing Where FBI Planes Are Watching from Above (2016)

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Re: Maps Showing Where FBI Planes Are Watching from Above (2016)

#11

Post by StanislavPetrov »

emveeoh wrote: post #4

This seems like a reasonable way to police. My only issue is if the drones can be 'heard' flying over a location. For example, buzzing over a specific house or business. Neighbors would automatically assume danger or guilt. If they drone, they should stay out of ear-range from anyone on the ground. Nobody should hear surveillance.

What, then, is an unreasonable way to police? Is it okay with you that many of these flights have infrared and other technology that lets agents of the state monitor and listen to you in your own home, in addition to ubiquitous tracking? If the enforcement of law is all that matters, why stop at 24/7 surveillance of all people, all the time? Without freedom and privacy, what good is the law? If physical safety is your only concern surely we'd all be more safe if we were locked in our own individual cells, all the time.

Re: Maps Showing Where FBI Planes Are Watching from Above (2016)

#12

Post by chronic824 »

jstanley wrote: post #7
mankash666 wrote: post #3

Tone of this article is unfairly critical of DHS & FBI. When data and statistics underpin our decisions in everything - speech recognition to pricing and suggestions on Amazon, apparently the government's use of it to go after suspected terrorists is unfair. The surveillance apparently shifted to a mosque after the San Bernardino shooting, not because the FBI hates mosques, but because data on individuals attending t…

The problem isn't that they're trying to track down terrorists. The problem is that this method involves recording everything that happens within a large radius of their actual target.

That's better than what tech companies do. They record every good damn link you even hover over, whether you have an intent to click it or not.

At least the FBI records within a radius of the target. Google, Uber, Salesforce, Orbital Insight, etc. record as much as they possibly can about everything.

Re: Maps Showing Where FBI Planes Are Watching from Above (2016)

#14

Post by wildrhythms »

jstanley wrote: post #7
mankash666 wrote: post #3

Tone of this article is unfairly critical of DHS & FBI. When data and statistics underpin our decisions in everything - speech recognition to pricing and suggestions on Amazon, apparently the government's use of it to go after suspected terrorists is unfair. The surveillance apparently shifted to a mosque after the San Bernardino shooting, not because the FBI hates mosques, but because data on individuals attending t…

The problem isn't that they're trying to track down terrorists. The problem is that this method involves recording everything that happens within a large radius of their actual target.

How different is this from putting a police officer on the street corner?

Re: Maps Showing Where FBI Planes Are Watching from Above (2016)

#15

Post by TheAdamAndChe »

ethbro wrote: post #9

Surprising how positive the initial comments here are. Do you really believe any incidental collection that isn't specifically prohibited by law (which is to say, most) doesn't end up in a database mined for unrelated reasons?

IMO it almost definitely happens, but it's bad for my mental health if I stress over everything I have no control over. Political activism has failed, and our government is practically an oligarchy at this point.

To me, it's like yelling at a tornado. I can yell all I'd like, but at the end of the day, that tornado will do its thing. All I can do is either hide or move out of Tornado Alley.

Re: Maps Showing Where FBI Planes Are Watching from Above (2016)

#16

Post by TheAdamAndChe »

wildrhythms wrote: post #14
jstanley wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem isn't that they're trying to track down terrorists. The problem is that this method involves recording everything that happens within a large radius of their actual target.

How different is this from putting a police officer on the street corner?

Data storage and interpretation. A single officer on every street corner can't aggregate data to learn of geographical trends, social connections, and aberrations from the norm in location, behavior, political thoughts, etc.

Re: Maps Showing Where FBI Planes Are Watching from Above (2016)

#17

Post by soared »

mkcsquared wrote: post #13

I apparently missed the memo where BuzzFeed started doing real reporting. When did that start happening?

I don't know when it started, but they've got some history of real reporting. It's odd, but I think if you still down just to the news section of the site, there is lots of high quality long form content.

Re: Maps Showing Where FBI Planes Are Watching from Above (2016)

#19

Post by meri_dian »

ethbro wrote: post #9

Surprising how positive the initial comments here are. Do you really believe any incidental collection that isn't specifically prohibited by law (which is to say, most) doesn't end up in a database mined for unrelated reasons?

Do you really think that surveillance like this gives the government any more power than it already has over the common person? More than governments have always had over the common person?

Let's concern ourselves with electing good governments, not the capabilities they develop to defend us from criminals.

Re: Maps Showing Where FBI Planes Are Watching from Above (2016)

#20

Post by wjn0 »

Looking at the map, outside the big cities, it seems mostly concentrated on highways. Does anyone know if it's realistic for a plane flying a mile high to grab, say, license plates and driver photos? Would this be legal? How close to the highway on the map would they have to be, hypothetically?
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