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Denver dumps Flock, awards contract to Axon

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Re: Denver dumps Flock, awards contract to Axon

#42

Post by ProllyInfamous »

More people need bicycle racks hung on their cars — all the time — which seem to fasten best when covering the license plate.

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Many states do not consider a trailer hitch ball as "obstructing" the license plate...

...so I have a trailer hitch ball hung directly across my identifier, entirely obscuring the plate (but not "obstructing," to letter of poorly-written laws e.g. Tennessee's).

Been rolling with it for months and nobody cares. Now I'm in Flock's database as the white Camry with no visible identifier (no bumper stickers nor tag visible).

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First time you get cited for "obstructing license plate," in Tennessee, is a $10.00 fine. Second is $20.00. This state also doesn't require plates for trailers, so after my second citation I'll just start hauling my 2ft long canoe trailer everywhere (which conveniently covers license plate).

Re: Denver dumps Flock, awards contract to Axon

#43

Post by niam »

GorbachevyChase wrote: post #40
officeplant wrote: post #23

Evil Corp B has been demoted, Evil Corp A to take up the mantle.

The computer vision cat is too far out of the bag. I don’t know how you can feasibly legislate that people can’t own a camera and send its output to OpenCV. Police already read plates with their eyes and can record those observations. The state of mass surveillance is so much worse than road cameras. This feels like a waste of everyone’s time.

The discussion is probably better started from the question of "why should that data be centralized?" and "why should the government be able to purchase this data, and why are those reasons more compelling than the downsides?".

I have to guess that the folks clamoring to put computer vision "back in the bag" are somewhere on the margins, and resemble straw more than steel.

Re: Denver dumps Flock, awards contract to Axon

#44

Post by 4d4m »

ProllyInfamous wrote: post #42

More people need bicycle racks hung on their cars — all the time — which seem to fasten best when covering the license plate. ---- Many states do not consider a trailer hitch ball as "obstructing" the license plate... ...so I have a trailer hitch ball hung directly across my identifier, entirely obscuring the plate (but not "obstructing," to letter of poorly-written laws e.g. Tennessee's). Been rolling with it for mo…

obfuscations are a unique fingerprint to these systems. It's not a defense IRL.

Re: Denver dumps Flock, awards contract to Axon

#45

Post by ProllyInfamous »

4d4m wrote: post #44
ProllyInfamous wrote: post #42

More people need bicycle racks hung on their cars — all the time — which seem to fasten best when covering the license plate. ---- Many states do not consider a trailer hitch ball as "obstructing" the license plate... ...so I have a trailer hitch ball hung directly across my identifier, entirely obscuring the plate (but not "obstructing," to letter of poorly-written laws e.g. Tennessee's). Been rolling with it for mo…

obfuscations are a unique fingerprint to these systems. It's not a defense IRL.

Yes, but I feel it's similar to wealthy individuals putting their homes into generic-named trusts, offering a simple shield from simpler surname database searches.

i.e: yes, my vehicle is now "white car, obscurred plate" — but if Officer Joe Blow is searching for my specific license plate... he'd have to try harder (e.g. I have intentionally sped past a traffic camera to see if I get the ticket — have not, to date [0]).

Obviously if you make yourself too big a target (i.e. manhunt level searching) this won't work. See https://xkcd.com/1105/>. I roll around GTA-one-star (or less), so this is helpful.

[0] My state has entirely banned the enforcability of photo citations (except passing school bus == good), but a private company still sends out speeding notices — my obfuscation bare minimum saves somebody the postage fees.

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