Live data from Hacker News

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

geospatialworld.net

171–180 of 205 posts

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

#171
post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given the choice, I think most people would choose the app option and to isolate in the comfort of their own home.

That is a false choice / false dilemma. "Which poison would you rather take" is not a meaningful choice. And what comfort? Facial recognition in your home? GPS tracking? RANDOM pings that send police officers to your house for an in-person quarantine check fi you don't respond within 15 minutes? Stop pretending to think about what most people would choose, and wake up to the reality staring you in the face.

Not sure where you live, but here in NZ we have similar systems and approach to Covid as Australia. Lots of people have been calling for a system to be implemented to allow people to self-isolate at home instead of a managed isolation facility. So when I say that most people would choose the option to isolate at home, I'm not pretending to think on others' behalf - I'm basing that statement on my experiences here in NZ and in discussion with others here in NZ which is fairly similar to Australia.

Having an app on your phone that lets authorities check if you're self-isolating sounds totally reasonable to me. When you've finished your two weeks isolation, you just uninstall the app and move on with your life. No big deal.

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

#172
post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given the choice, I think most people would choose the app option and to isolate in the comfort of their own home.

That is a false choice / false dilemma. "Which poison would you rather take" is not a meaningful choice. And what comfort? Facial recognition in your home? GPS tracking? RANDOM pings that send police officers to your house for an in-person quarantine check fi you don't respond within 15 minutes? Stop pretending to think about what most people would choose, and wake up to the reality staring you in the face.

Mate, it is clear you are not Australian by your other comments and you are projecting fears about "most people" with little to no idea what you are talking about.

Yes, we have less individual freedoms in Australia than places like the USA. Some of them are trade offs that have been pretty widely accepted, even though they might have been unpopular at various points. Australian's generally have more trust in our institutions than other countries, and the handling of the pandemic in 2020 is a good example as to why that might be. This is an app provided by a state (not federal) gov, that is open source, and there are various other gov mechanisms to verify how the data is being used. If it ends up being poorly implemented/used/abused, very likely it will be found out and become politically unpopular to the point where it will be quickly dumped.

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

#173
post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Viruses generally mutate to be less deadly, not more. And it is a fair comparison because both were used as excuses by governments for overreach.

> Viruses generally mutate to be less deadly, not more. Clearly that's not the case with Covid!

Actually, it is. Delta is less deadly than the original strain.

And even if it wasn't, it would be true in the long run.

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

#174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Couldn't agree more - the fact that my request to go on a stabbing rampage was declined due to "the good of others" is a travesty against human rights and the freedoms that come with them.

Don’t imagine many folks are making requests for those sort of shenanigans. Seems kinda like something you do of your own accord, yeah?

But then I'd have to go on a stabbing spree, when simply complaining about it online is a much safer - and more importantly comfortable - if ultimately pointless endeavor.

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

#175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As for the why, I think being able to trust your government is a great thing. It has allowed us to basically eleminate guns in our society except for recreation/farming, and as a result of our lockdowns we have only 1000 deaths. We should have 45,000 if you assume the same per-capita rate as the USA. So there are benefits for this kind of faith in your Government. I think Americas emphasis on individual freedoms come…

I would love to trust a government and have it take care of everything. But unfortunately government is run by humans who are susceptible to delusions like the consolidation of power over other humans. And if it is ever run by an AI, well, that AI may decide to just destroy everyone. So while trusting a government would be great, they have not earned that and Australia's governing bodies are clearly driving off a cli…

[deleted]

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

#176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As for the why, I think being able to trust your government is a great thing. It has allowed us to basically eleminate guns in our society except for recreation/farming, and as a result of our lockdowns we have only 1000 deaths. We should have 45,000 if you assume the same per-capita rate as the USA. So there are benefits for this kind of faith in your Government. I think Americas emphasis on individual freedoms come…

I would love to trust a government and have it take care of everything. But unfortunately government is run by humans who are susceptible to delusions like the consolidation of power over other humans. And if it is ever run by an AI, well, that AI may decide to just destroy everyone. So while trusting a government would be great, they have not earned that and Australia's governing bodies are clearly driving off a cli…

> military patrolling your streets to enforce these covid laws

This is not happening. It's a complete beat-up and it's utterly false. The military has been engaged to provide labor, not enforcement. They have no enforcement powers. Parking inspectors have greater powers to enforce civil laws.

As for the inflammatory "checking papers" trope: many countries in all parts fo the world have had lockdowns, including in the U.S. Why single out Australia for condemnation when it is doing the same thing as so many others have done?

That aside, on the ground, there is really not much enforcement of the restrictions - less and less as each week passes and everyone accepts that the virus is here to stay.

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

#177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have tons of examples of states where the government takes responsibility for protecting the people and are safer than the one example where a second amendment exists to keep people "safe". If you want to split hairs between western and eastern europe, yes, countries like the Ukraine is not as safe as the USA, but that in no way proves your point.

You didn't address my post or answer my questions. What "point" is it that you think I am making? What claims is it you think I have made?

> If society is violent, divided, and less trusting of one another, there is more willingness to turn to the state for protection.

Patently false from all available exemples.

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

#178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You didn't address my post or answer my questions. What "point" is it that you think I am making? What claims is it you think I have made?

> If society is violent, divided, and less trusting of one another, there is more willingness to turn to the state for protection. Patently false from all available exemples.

What examples? How do they demonstrate that? Clearly not all available examples were used!

And nowhere did I say that that is the only reason a society would be willing to turn to the state for protection, so spare me the false counter examples dressed up breathlessly to look like some incredible gotcha.

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

#179
post #152
post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The borders are closed so it's a choice you have made to enter the country and require quarantine, you know what you signed up for it is made abundantly clear. I think if you asked the majority of Australians they would say that they are happy people have to quarantine at the hotels and that they be guarded, since most of our outbreaks have been from quarantine breaches. So as far as a democracy goes that's right on…

It doesn’t matter why, stop rationalizing this bullshit.

Hey, can you please stop posting flamewar comments? You've been flaming up a storm in the last few hours and we ban accounts that do that. I'm not going to ban you right now because everyone goes on tilt sometimes, but please stop now and please don't do it again. It's not what this site is for, and it destroys what it is for.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

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

#180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If society is violent, divided, and less trusting of one another, there is more willingness to turn to the state for protection. Patently false from all available exemples.

What examples? How do they demonstrate that? Clearly not all available examples were used! And nowhere did I say that that is the only reason a society would be willing to turn to the state for protection, so spare me the false counter examples dressed up breathlessly to look like some incredible gotcha.

I gave the examples in my first comment, you didn’t refute them but claimed their were some bad countries in Europe, which I agreed with (Ukraine, Russia, etc…).
Post reply on HN