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Traffic cameras expose your location through parking apps

notmyplate.com

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Re: Traffic cameras expose your location through parking apps

#221

Post by anigbrowl »

londons_explore wrote: post #11
Rygian wrote: post #2

The gist of it: I can subscribe to location updates for any license plate that I want, without knowledge or consent from the owner of that car.

Something you could do anyway with a network of $50 android phones mounted on bridges over freeways. But this way you don't have to pay for the cameras - someone else has done it for you.

'Something you could do anyway' with something that would actually cost a huge amount of money and effort to build (those $50 phones probably wouldn't have adequate cameras, and would still need to be supplied power by solar panels or something, not to mention being subject to removal).

Re: Traffic cameras expose your location through parking apps

#222

Post by dylan604 »

astura wrote: post #206
dylan604 wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What happens if you paint your car? Are you supposed to inform your gov't?

Yeah, you are. Family member of mine actually got in trouble because the dealership typed the wrong color into the registration paperwork. The color on the registration didn't match the actual color of the car therefore it was considered illegally registered and the car was impounded during a routine traffic stop.

I love hearing these stories of "with all other crime being solved" officers have moved onto the petty stuff /s

Re: Traffic cameras expose your location through parking apps

#223

Post by [deleted] »

generalizations wrote: post #215
londons_explore wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You wouldn't get permission. Just walk with a phone+solar panel in a weatherproof box. Either use magnets or zip ties to tie to the the pedestrian rail of a bridge overlooking a freeway. Done. I would likely order some chinaphone motherboards only - for example[1] - without the screen+case+accessories you save ~50% on the retail price. They're then not valuable enough to be worth stealing either. If it's a small road…

Love the style, but wouldn't those boxes be conspicuous? It only takes a few observant people to notice a couple before they spot the pattern and see them everywhere. Then it seems like the game would be up.

[deleted]

Re: Traffic cameras expose your location through parking apps

#224

Post by tmh88j »

slowhand09 wrote: post #166
tmh88j wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not surprised, it sounds illegal for the purpose you described. It's illegal just to own plate flipping devices without even using them in some states. Surely that would be too. > A person commits an offense if the person with criminal negligence uses, purchases, possesses, manufactures, sells, offers to sell, or otherwise distributes a license plate flipper. An offense under this subsection is a Class C misdemea…

My intended used was for parked vehicles. Not to avoid moving violations.

I'm sure whoever makes plate flippers claims the same intended use.

edit - Found some for motorcycles on ebay...."Ideal for track days/shows/meets etc.." along with "FOR OFF ROAD USE ONLY" on the listings.

Re: Traffic cameras expose your location through parking apps

#225

Post by justapassenger »

conradev wrote: post #40
londons_explore wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something you could do anyway with a network of $50 android phones mounted on bridges over freeways. But this way you don't have to pay for the cameras - someone else has done it for you.

Not sure why this is being downvoted, it is an actual thing: “Several companies operate independent, non-law enforcement ALPR databases, contracting with drivers to put cameras on private vehicles to collect the information.” https://www.eff.org/pages/automated-license-plate-readers-al... Motherboard did a deeper dive on one of them: “DRN is a private surveillance system crowdsourced by hundreds of repo men who have…

I didn't downvote it, but $50 for cameras is not even a blip in the cost of setting operation like that, and op's comment make it sound, like that's all you need.

Surveillance is easy now. But not yet $50 easy.

Re: Traffic cameras expose your location through parking apps

#226

Post by breakingcups »

argiopetech wrote: post #193
schainks wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, this sounds very illegal in my state. I wonder if DRN even respects my state's laws about storing my personal information.

Is the location of your state-registered vehicle vehicle on publicly owned roads personal information in your state? Despite the phrasing, I'm honestly curious.

It's probably not, which is the problem. I feel like the wilful processing of such details into parse-able, privacy-violating form should be regulated.

Re: Traffic cameras expose your location through parking apps

#227

Post by anigbrowl »

tluyben2 wrote: post #96
tluyben2 wrote: post #16

I remember the police claiming they had this tech (license plate recognition) for average speed tracking while it did not work. It also didn’t work but was claimed to work for some toll roads. It helped as people slowed down and paid toll but it didn’t work; it started working years after installing it.

I am not supposed to ask on HN but why the downvotes? It’s just an observation from the past (Over 20 years ago)?

It's self-contradictory and hard to understand.

Re: Traffic cameras expose your location through parking apps

#228

Post by doublerabbit »

arethuza wrote: post #77
doublerabbit wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Within the UK, 4G sim cards and data are cheap. Android phone with tether capabilities, Raspberry Pi with solar and a webcam. Or even better to save all that faff, root a phone, run the drivers plate OCR software using the phones camera, stick to a gantry and send results via text message. You wouldn't even need live updates, pull the latest data at midnight each day. Text is cheap.

I suspect the computing and communication parts of a project like this are by far the easiest bits. Weatherproofing the camera and solar panels, getting permission to get them installed, actually installing them (working at heights over busy roads) and then maintaining them would be pretty expensive. You might also have to pay rent to whoever owns gantries, and what about locations where there aren't any existing gan…

> What about roads that don't have network coverage

Satellite. you can buy text bundles. Sure the kit would cost a little bit more, but nothing major.

Re: Traffic cameras expose your location through parking apps

#229

Post by vineyardmike »

beambot wrote: post #181
dagw wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're talking about filming major roads here. "Motion activated" effectively means running 24/7. No way a built in solar panel in a camouflaged trail camera will manage that. Also it doesn't matter how small the device is, if you legally want to attach a camera to any sort of infrastructure overlooking a road, then yes you need permits you almost certainly will not get. You could possibly attach it to a pole on priva…

Partner with roadside billboard providers. Sell it to them on the cheap as "analytics", and then just re-sell the LPR data.

I wonder if something like this already exists. This seems like a great business.

By great business I mean it seems like something people would say for. I don’t know if it would actually be valuable data to billboard owners though. But I can imagine a mega unicorn startup advertising IRL advertisement analytics and back-selling the data to tons of data brokers.

Re: Traffic cameras expose your location through parking apps

#230

Post by mminer237 »

pjleonhardt wrote: post #199
argiopetech wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is the location of your state-registered vehicle vehicle on publicly owned roads personal information in your state? Despite the phrasing, I'm honestly curious.

No, but likely his face biometrics are off he happens to have been captured in the video. So if they are keeping the raw video, not just the processed license plate output, they may fall under this jurisdiction.

Assuming you're talking about the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, that only requires consent for facial recognition databases based on facial geometry. The law explicitly allows storing photographs of people's faces without consent.
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