The Police State Advances Daily: Warrantless, Sophisticated Audio Surveillance On Buses
Few people care, speak up, or even notice the constant advance of the police state in this country, and the constant erosion of our rights.
It's getting a little late to start defending the Constitution, but more people need to wake up to the need, because once rights are taken from us, they could be impossible to peacefully get back.
There's yet another shocking civil liberties grab going on, MIchael Brick of The Daily reports:
The era of private conversations on city buses -- and even on San Francisco's iconic streetcars -- may be coming to an end.Government officials are quietly installing sophisticated audio surveillance systems on public buses across the country to eavesdrop on passengers, according to documents obtained by The Daily. Plans to implement the technology are under way in cities from San Francisco to Hartford, Conn., and Eugene, Ore., to Columbus, Ohio.
Linked to video cameras already in wide use, the microphones will offer a formidable new tool for security and law enforcement. With the new systems, experts say, transit officials can effectively send an invisible police officer to transcribe the individual conversations of every passenger riding on a public bus.
But the deployment of the technology on buses raises urgent questions about the boundaries of legally protected privacy in public spaces, experts say, as transit officials -- and perhaps law enforcement agencies given access to the systems -- seem positioned to monitor audio communications without search warrants or court supervision.
"This is very shocking," said Anita Allen, a privacy law expert at the University of Pennsylvania. "It's a little beyond what we're accustomed to. The adding of the audio seems more sensitive."
Procurement documents explain the supposed rationale in SF:
"The purpose of this project is to replace the existing video surveillance systems in SFMTA's fleet of revenue vehicles with a reliable and technologically advanced system to increase passenger safety and improve reliability and maintainability of the system," officials wrote in contract documents.
Sorry -- you're going to stop two passengers from stabbing each other because you can listen to hours of audio?
This is bullshit.
"Safety" on buses is like "security" in the airport. Again, it's about getting us used to giving up our privacy, our dignity, and our Constitutional rights.
I wonder what they would charge you with if you foam the microphones and pictures with shaving cream?
They would have to admit that you were "vandalizing" their surveillance equipment. So what happens when 50% of the population is doing the vandalizing?
Jim P. at December 10, 2012 10:29 PM
It's like the police department. It's not their job to protect you, it's their job to catch someone after a crime has been committed.
Why is it, I wonder, that public transportation isn't catching on with those with the means to avoid it?
MarkD at December 11, 2012 5:04 AM
"Why is it, I wonder, that public transportation isn't catching on with those with the means to avoid it?"
For me, it's the people already on there, as much as the lack of flexibility.
The mikes WILL catch a lot of insurance fraud, and maybe reduce crime. Two groups of punks were getting loud in WalMart the other day until I walked up with a smile on my face and breezily remarked about fighting on cameras, everywhere in your local WalMart.
Why IS it OK for a business to do that, and even demand that you be unarmed, when it's not for the State?
Radwaste at December 11, 2012 7:04 AM
For me, it's the people already on there, as much as the lack of flexibility.
Me too. I look at some of those people waiting at the bus stops and thank the gods that I'm not one of them. I feel bad for some, but others, not so much. We create our situations as much if not more so than outside circumstances/influences.
I do like taking the train, though. I'll have to scope out MetroNorth and see where they put the cameras, so I can take steps to avoid them.
(Notice I didn't type 'disable'. Wouldn't want anyone to think I'd actually do that.
o.O)
Flynne at December 11, 2012 7:20 AM
So the governemnt can secretly record you without your permission, but if you openly record your own interaction with cops its a wiretapping crime (even though there are no wires or phone calls) and carries an up to 15yr prison term.
I look forward to the day your average Joe just start shooting cops and bureacrats
lujlp at December 11, 2012 8:22 AM
The mikes WILL catch a lot of insurance fraud, and maybe reduce crime. Two groups of punks were getting loud in WalMart the other day until I walked up with a smile on my face and breezily remarked about fighting on cameras, everywhere in your local WalMart.
Posted by: Radwaste at December 11, 2012 7:04 AM
_________________________
I'm a bit surprised that worked, given how much we hear about violent teens and older criminals who film THEMSELVES in the act and post it on Youtube.
lenona at December 11, 2012 9:09 AM
This news report reminds of a scene in Solzhenitsyn's novel, The First Circle, which is set in the late Stalinist period at the height of the Soviet police state. A character, Illarion Gerasimovich, has been imprisoned for years. He is a small man, who has been crushed and mistreated throughout the Soviet rule.
He has a rare visit from his wife, who is similarly mistreated as a wife of an "enemy of the people". She gets spit upon by her neighbors and can barely earn enough to feed and clothe herself. She pleads with him to find a way to get out of prison and save her because she is physically and spiritually broken. Otherwise, she will die. Shortly after the visit, he has a meeting with a General from what would later be called the KGB.
Because Gerasimovich is a specialist in optics, he is offered the opportunity to be released from prison and given a good job. He only has to do one thing: manage a team that will design small cameras and microphones to be placed in doorways and public parks to record conversations. He will be a free man in six months.
One of the best moments in the novel is when Gerasimovich essentially tells the General to stuff it. Of course, he is almost immediately sent away from Moscow (and any hope of seeing his wife) to a forced labor camp.
Solzhenitsyn used this scene to show everyone how bad things were in the Soviet Union. They could spy on you in parks! Or on the bus! Thank goodness we don't live in the Soviet Union.
Jonathan at December 13, 2012 7:23 PM
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