Creepy Ways Local Law Enforcement Is Watching You

Did you RSVP to any Halloween parties on Facebook? Maybe tweeted about your plans? Posted an Instagram of your costume? These days, when you’re reading tweets or looking at your friends’ photos, you might be joined by cops . . .

Once you get in your car, get ready to be tracked. Law enforcement agencies all over the country use ALPRs (automated license plate readers) to track drivers’ locations and activities. ALPRs are cameras — mounted on police cars or placed in stationary locations like light poles — that detect when a car passes, capture a picture of that car and record its license plate number. Accumulated location data creates a history of drivers’ movements that can provide private and intimate details on people’s lives, like where they work, where they live, where they worship, where they go throughout their day and whom they associate with. Law enforcement agencies like the New York Police Department have used ALPRs in exactly this way, trying to map out the entire Arab and Muslim community of New York and Newark. The Los Angeles Police Department and the LA County Sheriff’s Department scan 3 million plates every week . . .

Speaking of driving, do you go through any tolls on your commute? Many cities have switched to electronic tolls, either via an RFID chip in your car or via an account tied to your license plate number. In 2013, we noted that the San Francisco Bay Area had switched to all electronic tolls, making it functionally impossible to cross the Golden Gate Bridge without authorities knowing about it. And the Bay Area isn’t alone; other major urban areas like New York and even some states, like Washington, have moved to all (or nearly all) electronic tolling . . .

You may escape tracking by not driving and by purchasing a transit ticket in cash, but you’ll still be captured by ubiquitous surveillance cameras. In many U.S. cities, there are now surveillance cameras on every block. In San Francisco, you could appear on security cameras dozens of times in one day. In New York, “[t]he NYPD can tap into roughly 6,000 street cameras, two-thirds of which are privately owned. There are another 7,000 in public housing and more than 4,000 in the city’s subway stations” . . .

You’ve probably noticed that Facebook recognizes your friends and you in your photos. A mask might not be enough, though: Facial recognition technology has gotten so good that Facebook can even recognize the back of your head. (Read more from “Creepy Ways Local Law Enforcement Is Watching You” HERE)

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