Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Police are tagging fleeing cars with GPS darts to avoid dangerous pursuits

thedrive.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 63 posts

Re: Police are tagging fleeing cars with GPS darts to avoid dangerous pursuits

#11

Post by lettergram »

cebert wrote: post #9
rr808 wrote: post #3

Its a good idea. I'm surprised there aren't trackers on all cars already, like a 21st century license plate. I thought toll passes would do this, but looking at the size of the sensors over interstates it isn't so easy.

I work in the public safety domain. You don’t even need a tracker on vehicles. There are several camera startups in this space, such as Flock Safety, which can scan for plates and particular vehicle descriptions and alert law enforcement. These devices are more common than you’d think. Agencies can also enter data sharing agreements. I work on the consuming end of data from systems like this. [1] https://www.flocksaf…

I was just talking to a coworker about this.

Imo it should be illegal, but what ever I guess haha

Basically, no need for a warrant any more. As long as it’s “in view of the public” they can track you entirely.

Champaign IL set these up on almost every intersection.

Re: Police are tagging fleeing cars with GPS darts to avoid dangerous pursuits

#14

Post by linkjuice4all »

cebert wrote: post #9
rr808 wrote: post #3

Its a good idea. I'm surprised there aren't trackers on all cars already, like a 21st century license plate. I thought toll passes would do this, but looking at the size of the sensors over interstates it isn't so easy.

I work in the public safety domain. You don’t even need a tracker on vehicles. There are several camera startups in this space, such as Flock Safety, which can scan for plates and particular vehicle descriptions and alert law enforcement. These devices are more common than you’d think. Agencies can also enter data sharing agreements. I work on the consuming end of data from systems like this. [1] https://www.flocksaf…

Is there an option for the public/non-law enforcement to access or pay to get this data? I know we're not getting the toothpaste back in the tube so we (the general public) might as well get some benefit from it.

There are a lot of government officials driving around doing non-sensitive/non-law enforcement work so they should have no expectation of privacy and no qualified immunity or some other exception related to active investigations.

This seems like a great way to ensure accountability of our representatives - if they'll let us.

Re: Police are tagging fleeing cars with GPS darts to avoid dangerous pursuits

#15

Post by noduerme »

lettergram wrote: post #11
cebert wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I work in the public safety domain. You don’t even need a tracker on vehicles. There are several camera startups in this space, such as Flock Safety, which can scan for plates and particular vehicle descriptions and alert law enforcement. These devices are more common than you’d think. Agencies can also enter data sharing agreements. I work on the consuming end of data from systems like this. [1] https://www.flocksaf…

I was just talking to a coworker about this. Imo it should be illegal, but what ever I guess haha Basically, no need for a warrant any more. As long as it’s “in view of the public” they can track you entirely. Champaign IL set these up on almost every intersection.

Massively gathered warrantless spying on the genpop should be illegal ...when it comes to tracking car license plates? I mean, compared to facial recognition and cell phone tracking, it seems quaint.

Re: Police are tagging fleeing cars with GPS darts to avoid dangerous pursuits

#16

Post by TimeBearingDown »

rr808 wrote: post #3

Its a good idea. I'm surprised there aren't trackers on all cars already, like a 21st century license plate. I thought toll passes would do this, but looking at the size of the sensors over interstates it isn't so easy.

The NY Civil Liberties Union did find that toll passes are scanned far from actual toll roads. It appears to be used explicitly for surveillance purposes. Stick to cash or bill-by-mail, or connect your reader’s battery with a thumb when you need to use it.

https://www.nyclu.org/en/e-zpass-readers

Re: Police are tagging fleeing cars with GPS darts to avoid dangerous pursuits

#20

Post by tjpnz »

linkjuice4all wrote: post #14
cebert wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I work in the public safety domain. You don’t even need a tracker on vehicles. There are several camera startups in this space, such as Flock Safety, which can scan for plates and particular vehicle descriptions and alert law enforcement. These devices are more common than you’d think. Agencies can also enter data sharing agreements. I work on the consuming end of data from systems like this. [1] https://www.flocksaf…

Is there an option for the public/non-law enforcement to access or pay to get this data? I know we're not getting the toothpaste back in the tube so we (the general public) might as well get some benefit from it. There are a lot of government officials driving around doing non-sensitive/non-law enforcement work so they should have no expectation of privacy and no qualified immunity or some other exception related to…

A la Elon Jet but for the vehicles of publicly elected officials? I think we should have the right to keep tabs on them given how prone they are to misbehaving.
Post reply on HN