With the way wiretapping laws work and the bus operator not being a party in any of the conversations they surveil, I wonder if it's legal to be recording peoples' voices here.
Public buses across country adding microphones to record conversations (2012)
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Re: Public buses across country adding microphones to record conversations (2012)
#12Probably a good idea to add the year to the title (2012)
That would be. Thanks for pointing it out.
Re: Public buses across country adding microphones to record conversations (2012)
#13paid for in full with a grant from DHS That's the bit I was not expecting. I was expecting this to be about curbing crime on public transit. e.g. audio evidence for stabbings and drug deals but given the funding source perhaps more about preparation for something else? Maybe one of these conflicts? [0] I'm curious now. Given how long ago this started there must be more stories by now. [0] - https://wikiless.org/wiki/…
Reconstruction of timelines from video is a big deal in investigations. A key requirement of video is time for admissibility. Having a roaming camera showing the comings and goings of people can help isolate who was where and provide a time reference when the video system at a pizza place that captures a crime doesn’t have a clock set.
Re: Public buses across country adding microphones to record conversations (2012)
#14I'm curious what the (presumably delusional) for case for this is. Like, why would anyone think this would even be useful? Is it to combat crime? It says something vague in the article about "rider safety" but I don't really get that. What sort of incident would require hearing conversations between riders? Do they want this so that if one person verbally harasses another rider they can prove it? It just seems like the obvious ease with which this could be abused is even more stark put next to the uselessness of this to the people installing it...
Re: Public buses across country adding microphones to record conversations (2012)
#15Probably a good idea to add the year to the title (2012)
Ambiguity => more comments => more "engagement" => hit the front page faster
Re: Public buses across country adding microphones to record conversations (2012)
#16With the way wiretapping laws work and the bus operator not being a party in any of the conversations they surveil, I wonder if it's legal to be recording peoples' voices here.
Everything is legal if you're the one making laws.
Re: Public buses across country adding microphones to record conversations (2012)
#17With the way wiretapping laws work and the bus operator not being a party in any of the conversations they surveil, I wonder if it's legal to be recording peoples' voices here.
[deleted]
Re: Public buses across country adding microphones to record conversations (2012)
#18paid for in full with a grant from DHS That's the bit I was not expecting. I was expecting this to be about curbing crime on public transit. e.g. audio evidence for stabbings and drug deals but given the funding source perhaps more about preparation for something else? Maybe one of these conflicts? [0] I'm curious now. Given how long ago this started there must be more stories by now. [0] - https://wikiless.org/wiki/…
Funding started prior to ~ 2008 at least ...
I'm in a Five Eyes nation (Austalia) and 14+ (ish) years ago I specc'd out, prototyped, and demo'd a bus recording system for the UK under the loose project heading of Panopticon (I shit you not).
Essentially a lightweight handler about a "hard drive as multitrack ring buffer" oldest footage+audio being overwritten.
One of the more interesting parts (that may or may not have hit production) was checksum+key propagation system to robustly transfer the most recent footage (prioritised by boarding | departure events) to at least one other bus while alongside in traffic | parked up at stops | terminals.
I had issues with a lax approach to secure wireless access (in those early days, etc) .. but the raison d'être was ostensibly not public spying nor common criminal tracking etc. but to have some record of what happens on public transport that might suddenly blow up ...
The entire project was smack in the grey area with a mass of ethical questions and a huge potential to slide into a police state swill (no doubt today there are people talking about real time .AI analysis (unless, of course, that was added long ago)).
At the time I was working for a private contractor in another field who was branching out and submitting proposals to tenders .. I was not then under any NDA (a relative rarity).
Re: Public buses across country adding microphones to record conversations (2012)
#19With the way wiretapping laws work and the bus operator not being a party in any of the conversations they surveil, I wonder if it's legal to be recording peoples' voices here.
> With the way wiretapping laws work
These laws vary wildly by state... And posting notices in many states work to avoid these issues.
So are they legal? Mostly. Yes. But depends where you live and what steps are taken to inform the riders ... But they likely would not record without lawyers saying they are safe to do so.
Re: Public buses across country adding microphones to record conversations (2012)
#20paid for in full with a grant from DHS That's the bit I was not expecting. I was expecting this to be about curbing crime on public transit. e.g. audio evidence for stabbings and drug deals but given the funding source perhaps more about preparation for something else? Maybe one of these conflicts? [0] I'm curious now. Given how long ago this started there must be more stories by now. [0] - https://wikiless.org/wiki/…
Remember the DHS is massive and took over a bunch of other agencies. Coast Guard, Customs, Secret Service, INS, TSA, Office of Counternarcotics Enforcement, and quite a few more.
Basically any justification you can imagine would fit under one of their heads, the actual reason is probably they thought the data would be useful.