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Australian gov to use facial recognition and GPS tracking to enforce quarantine

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Re: Australian gov to use facial recognition and GPS tracking to enforce quarantine

#61

Post by the_third_wave »

throwawayfear wrote: post #22
gobookdev wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We just had hundreds of thousands of people go to the beach yesterday ignoring lockdown orders, I was worried about my country having read things like Gulag Archipelago, but the general population have shown where their line is. Still we're now a police state and the general population doesn't seem to give a shit about that.

Rally your people and take it to the politicians’ offices until they throw out these policies entirely. Wear masks and go in big numbers.

Better throw out the politicians together with the policies. Now that they've shown their true colours it would be foolhardy to expect them to restrain their authoritarian instincts come the next emergency - and if there is one thing easily come by these days it seems to be emergencies.

Kick 'm out, elect a new batch and keep their feet to the fire.

Re: Australian gov to use facial recognition and GPS tracking to enforce quarantine

#62

Post by FridgeSeal »

tosstoyevsky wrote: post #21
jp0d wrote: post #14

This might be an unpopular opinion! But there are some really bad people out there. The situation is getting out of hand here in Melbourne and there are people like this family who're Covid positive and still out and about in the community. We should blame selfish people like these for such measures from the government. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/melbourne/article-9964173/M...

The people aren’t to blame for an extreme government overreach.

So we’re supposed to just sit around and let infectious people roam around the community (putting everyone’s health and safety at risk) because they didn’t do as politely asked?

We had Katie Hopkins here earlier in the year bragging about how she was going to deliberately break quarantine etc etc.

If people aren’t going to follow a reasonable precaution, this far into a pandemic, then I have little sympathy when harsher measures are employed.

Re: Australian gov to use facial recognition and GPS tracking to enforce quarantine

#63

Post by gobookdev »

throwawayfear wrote: post #22
gobookdev wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We just had hundreds of thousands of people go to the beach yesterday ignoring lockdown orders, I was worried about my country having read things like Gulag Archipelago, but the general population have shown where their line is. Still we're now a police state and the general population doesn't seem to give a shit about that.

Rally your people and take it to the politicians’ offices until they throw out these policies entirely. Wear masks and go in big numbers.

Dude that organised the last protest got 8 months prison. 75% of the population agrees with some of the totalitarian laws. Still a great country, but I'm looking at other places to live, Senior Engineer so it won't be hard to get sponsorship. Thinking about USA where people really understand the importance of their constitution, and the tech sector is the strongest in the world.

Re: Australian gov to use facial recognition and GPS tracking to enforce quarantine

#64

Post by throwawayfear »

mindwok wrote: post #53
etaioinshrdlu wrote: post #30

So, do the people support this? Is this a failure of a democracy, or do the people really want this?

I'd say that in general Australians are more trusting of their government than our American friends. I often see poeple on Twitter like Joe Rogan and friends expressing total shock about how compliant Aussies are with what seems like draconian lockdown rules, but I think that misses the point. When our government says we can only go outside for an hour a day, there's a general sentiment that this is a shame but we un…

That trust will be abused. It is just a matter of time. History is full of examples. Why build this machine in the first place and then hope that whoever drives it is nice enough to not abuse the power? Why risk it? The pandemic is not dangerous enough to justify this blind faith.

Re: Australian gov to use facial recognition and GPS tracking to enforce quarantine

#66

Post by amanzi »

The opening paragraph of the article describes what is actually happening and it's far less ominous that what the comments here suggest.

"In an official statement, the State Government announced a contract to a Western Australian (WA) company for $1.1 million to develop a new smartphone app that uses facial recognition and GPS tracking technology to monitor people who are ordered to self-quarantine at home, reported InDaily."

So this isn't an app meant to enforce state-wide quarantines or to enforce any additional restrictions or controls on the general public. This app is to enable those who are specifically ordered to self-quarantine (e.g. arriving from a Covid-hotspot, or close contacts of Covid-positive cases) to be able to check-in so that they can self-quarantine at home instead of at a managed isolation facility.

Re: Australian gov to use facial recognition and GPS tracking to enforce quarantine

#67

Post by FridgeSeal »

chrisco255 wrote: post #15
glaucon wrote: post #10

"... following a selective tender process in November" Remarkably slow process given that we are dealing with a pandemic. Worth pointing out that "Australian gov to use" should read "South Australian gov to use" (South Australia being a state of Australia). EDIT: As this thread is attracting attention from people who have views different from my own I'd just like to make it clear that I'm in favour of controlling the…

We're dealing with an endemic disease that is going on its third year. At some point, people and governments need to recognize that fact: it's not controllable and it will spread eventually no matter how dystopian you get.

Preferably that point is once we’ve reached suitable vaccination, and the presence of covid in the community no longer puts excess pressure on our hospital system.

As it stands, neither of those things have happened yet.

Re: Australian gov to use facial recognition and GPS tracking to enforce quarantine

#69

Post by trainsplanes »

swiley wrote: post #33

I’m done with this bullshit. Fuck Covid. Fuck extreme over reactions to it and Fuck Joe Biden.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Joe Biden is a political leader in Australia. I'm not sure if he's even Australian.

Re: Australian gov to use facial recognition and GPS tracking to enforce quarantine

#70

Post by throwawayfear »

FridgeSeal wrote: post #62
tosstoyevsky wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The people aren’t to blame for an extreme government overreach.

So we’re supposed to just sit around and let infectious people roam around the community (putting everyone’s health and safety at risk) because they didn’t do as politely asked? We had Katie Hopkins here earlier in the year bragging about how she was going to deliberately break quarantine etc etc. If people aren’t going to follow a reasonable precaution, this far into a pandemic, then I have little sympathy when hars…

Take a step back and think critically about what you are saying and what kind of system you are building. You are building a system of enslavement. You will not be able to go anywhere or do anything except without the arbitrary permission from authorities who don’t care about you.

This pandemic is nowhere near that dangerous to justify this. Where do you draw the line? When you can’t shop in the grocery store unless you accept public health treatments without question? When they’ve dehumanized people enough that you tolerate surveilling them in those quarantine “hotels” “until they choose to comply with public health safety laws?”

The slope is slippery and you are sliding into hell. Time to stop being tribal or partisan about sticking it to the “anti vaxers” and start thinking about the system that is being built.

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