An underappreciated point here is: fund/subscribe your local papers. They are willing to do work and investigations that national outlets just don't have the capacity or stomach for. The more concentrated/centralized journalism is the higher the risk it can get censored/leveraged.
Texas police invested in phone-tracking software and won’t say how it’s used
101–110 of 135 posts
Re: Texas police invested in phone-tracking software and won’t say how it’s used
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
It isn't black and white. Deploy trust circumstantially.
The increasing fraction of “zingy catchphrase” HN comments compared to actually nuanced takes is depressing. Feels like a horrible mix of Reddit and tumblr
Yeah we’re not supposed to talk about how “HN is turning into Reddit”, but it already has. For years now. A typical comment here has been indistinguishable from a typical Reddit comment for many years, with the exception that humor is a lot less common here (although even that has changed a ton.)
The argument is that “HN is turning into Reddit” has been said since the beginning of HN… but that doesn’t make it wrong. To me the transformation is already complete. Regression to the mean is unavoidable.
Re: Texas police invested in phone-tracking software and won’t say how it’s used
#103[deleted]
Re: Texas police invested in phone-tracking software and won’t say how it’s used
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
The State Guards are the militias For example the Texas Guard: https://tmd.texas.gov/army-guard Not that I’d ever want them near anything useful but that’s the answer
Incorrect, that would be the: https://tmd.texas.gov/state-guard ;) they are NOT the National Guard. They are the militia of Texas. (Texas State Guard aka TXSG). Subordinate to the state gov, only. However TX considers it more complicated than that: The Organized Militia: Consisting of the Texas Army National Guard, the Texas Air National Guard, and the Texas State Guard. The Unorganized Militia: This consists of all…
Pretty sure we used the same link and you’re explaining it as though I’m wrong
Smdh
Re: Texas police invested in phone-tracking software and won’t say how it’s used
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
Tools like this are substantially different than time/location Bound geofences with warrants served to providers like were used in the Jan 6 investigations. And even those are under SCOTUS scrutiny for 4th amendment concerns.
Results compel expectations, and every "success" unlocks more latitude. A rational person cannot admire headlines that trumpet the wonderful achievements of digital dragnets in one case, and then suffer "concern" when more aggressive techniques are employed elsewhere: there are powerful incentives involved, as any thinking person should know. J6 was a big unlock for state surveillance; the results were met with gushi…
J6 was a completely standard use case to confirm someone’s location in the Capitol with the location data from providers. It wasn’t some novel or breakthrough use, and not everything in life is a slippery slope so it’s completely rational to approve of a technology to convict those involved in a crime and decry more advanced and less legal means purely for surveillance of people who haven’t committed any crimes.
Re: Texas police invested in phone-tracking software and won’t say how it’s used
#106Re: Texas police invested in phone-tracking software and won’t say how it’s used
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
It turns out it's actually fine if your data is on offer to the government from a third party. The Constitution was meant to be permanently fixed and extremely literal about only the technology available from centuries ago, it was not meant to describe general concepts nor intended to be updated to ensure those same rights are retained along with changes in society.
>The Constitution was meant to be permanently fixed and extremely literal about only the technology available from centuries ago, it was not meant to describe general concepts nor intended to be updated to ensure those same rights are retained along with changes in society. /s? I can't tell because people unironically use the same reasoning to make the "2nd amendment only apply to muskets" argument.
There's definitely an argument to be made here, though.
I think everyone can agree that if the founding fathers knew about modern warfare they would probably feel different about a variety of things. Or, at least, consider them more carefully.
Re: Texas police invested in phone-tracking software and won’t say how it’s used
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Why are they comfortable saying this? They receive recognition for the results. Phone data was used in a large fraction of the cases against rioters in the 2021 capital attack. The Powers That Be were grateful that law enforcement were able to use phone data to either initially identify attackers or corroborate other evidence, and ultimately put people in prison. The justice system makes cases with this every day,…
I've heard a lot more recognition for Apple refusing to comply with unlocking iPhones over the years than any of these other cases.
This might just be the bias of the groups you are in (myself included).
Re: Texas police invested in phone-tracking software and won’t say how it’s used
#109Why are they comfortable saying this? > Generally, Boyd said his office uses the software to find “avenues for obtaining probable cause” or “to verify reasonable suspicion that you already have”—not as a basis by itself to make arrests. As if that's not a massive violation of our rights in and of itself. This is my fundamental problem with the internet. As much as stories like these gain traction, as many millions of…
"Without" regulations? As early as 2006 we discovered that phone carriers were subject to regulations forcing them to install back doors for government surveillance. Many near the 2002 Olympic games had their phone calls listened to by human ears (NSA) without warrant. And that's just a random example. This has been going on much much longer.
Regulations are made or dismantled in an effort to funnel money into regulators own businesses or investments and to combat their political opponents, all under the premise that it's for the good of society. (And, in some cases it has been.)
This shouldn't be news to anyone. What's shocking is that this is still shocking to people.
Re: Texas police invested in phone-tracking software and won’t say how it’s used
#110Isn’t this type of software illegal? If I went to try and sell it , I’d be arrested.
But who's gonna arrest the police? Seems like more and more people are testing/stretching the limits of what's actually enforced.
Similarly, hearing about the Eppstein files makes me sick:
- deadlines? not met - limited redactions? full documents redacted - redactions explained? not at all