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License Plate Tracking For All
wired.com — Law enforcement technology that rapidly reads and logs license plates on the road is about to filter down to commercial and consumer applications -- so we can all track each other in real time.
p9s50W5k4GUD2c6- 754 diggs
- digg it
- heliox, on 10/12/2007, -23/+7Buried. This is a duplicate of: http://digg.com/tech_news/License_Plate_Tracking_for_All
I was going to post this but upon searching, I found THREE stories on the same Wired article. Seach people Search.- snubber, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10dugg this one given its body is worded in a way to be informative not sensationalist.
- Gisterogue, on 10/12/2007, -9/+5So you state it's a duplicate, provide us the link, give us some friendly tip to search before we post (which we should all be doing.. especially when it's on the main rss).. yet you are still digged down to a minus 2? People need to start being honest.
- gl00pp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5freakin scary.
- icefrakker, on 10/12/2007, -16/+11989 for all
- PJBonoVox, on 10/12/2007, -1/+51989?
- godfa7h3r, on 10/12/2007, -3/+22Oh sorry. The answer we were looking for here was 1984... 1984.
Thanks for trying, but yes, the answer was indeed the novel 1984 written by George Orwell in the year 1949 which depicted what he thought life would become in the year 1984 coining such phrases as double speak and big brother. Please take some parting gifts on your way out, and we'll be right back after these messages. - doorman444, on 10/12/2007, -3/+21984 was written in 1948
- icefrakker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2oh man i look stupid. it was 2 in the morning what can i say
- BrokenBeta, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6It does help when creating a Digg story about law (sort of) to mention which country the article is referring to.
- PJBonoVox, on 10/12/2007, -3/+22You must be new here. Americans are mostly unaware that there are other countries with their own news and laws.
- feucht, on 10/12/2007, -2/+19You are all forgetting that America is the world's default setting.
- PJBonoVox, on 10/12/2007, -11/+1^ What he said ;)
- Create, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Not To Mention The Article Says "Washington --..." At The Beginning...
Kinda Tips Me Off That it May Have Something to do With the U.S.
rtfa =P
- DrunkenPirate34, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2How will the initial "tracking" be done? GPS?
- electromagnetic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3No with cameras, you can't GPS track something without a GPS unit.
- ValFreEntrtnmnt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3In the UK the ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) system is being implemented with roadside cctv cameras. (like electromagnetic said)
- gmillerd, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3"you can't GPS track something without a GPS unit."
Unless you count a system of really long tape measures.
- nurriz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Burglars are going to love this.
- 5blocksfree, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4This won't make a single bit of difference to burglars - they'll use a stolen car, or stolen plates, and ditch it before anyone knows what happened. There are so many ways around this for people that *want* to break the law.
However...I have a real problem with this...it is nothing less than a technique to stalk people en masse. From the article: ""I know it sounds really Big Brother," Bucholz says. "But it's going to happen. It's going to get cheaper and cheaper until they slap them up on every taxicab and delivery truck and track where people live." And work. And sleep. And move."
He seems to think that the only deciding factor is whether or not it can make money. However, I suspect it won't be long before we start seeing lawsuits claiming that nobody has an inherent right to collect, organize, store and even worse, sell this kind of information *ABOUT US*, without our permission- what business of it is theirs? - Agret, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9I think he means the burglars can note the plate numbers down and then watch them while they are burglarizing the joint and know when to get the hell out.
- nurriz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Agret, you are very correct in your interpretation of my comment. I have a hard time understanding how it could mean anything else.
Unless off course one thought that I was being ironic. Which I wasn't.
- 5blocksfree, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4This won't make a single bit of difference to burglars - they'll use a stolen car, or stolen plates, and ditch it before anyone knows what happened. There are so many ways around this for people that *want* to break the law.
- theoallardyce, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7In London this has been going on for years, even some petrol station security cameras you can see a computer screen running behind the desk thats recognising plates, although they and the city congestion charge cameras are bound by the data protection act they can be used by law enforcement probably in the same way as phone records. In America you guys are going to be screwed when private businesses start doing this because they can sell your tracking information in real time to anyone they like, from debt collection to car insurence to crime gangs who are interested in whos out of town so they can rob you - they can all have the data delivered to them in real time.
- KaserPro, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3We have this in britian. If you enter or exit a major city in england, the police know about it.
- bob645, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Coming soon to a Taco Bell near you. Maybe
The funny thing is I thought about such a system almost 20 years ago when I was a shift manager just after high school.
I wondered if there could be a way to find out why repeat customers stopped coming to a store. In addition to a video archive, archived orders and delivery times, and some type of LPR system could generate a list of repeat plates with orders that haven't returned in a specified time. The manager could go back to the day of their last order, watch the video archive and see if things were operationg smoothly a that day and time, and correct the problem to prevent future loss.
Of course 30MB hdds and 286 computers running SCO UNIX were the latest and greatest at that time. But with today's tech, I am very surprised that I don't see something like this already. - derekbez, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Excuse me being vague on the facts. I read/heard somewhere recently that something like 10% of number plates in UK were duplicated. ie: the crook sees a similar car, jots down the plate, and has a dupe made for his car. No fines, maybe no insurance or road tax too...
Maybe they need to up the technology stakes and add vehicle recognition. - Drizzit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4So people will complain. Yet they'll happily drive every day with a toll tag which does much of the same thing. Drive around the Dallas Ft Worth area and you may notice toll tag readers in places they're not collecting tolls.
I think it's scouting out new toll areas vs spying on people, but it's still disturbing.
Now we are going to have the first toll tag free highway. They'll send you a bill with your car's picture and a small administrative fee. - clevershark, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4It's a stalker's dream come true... spot your victim getting into her car, jot down the plate number, buy a week's worth of reports of the victim's whereabouts, and you have a pretty good idea what her/his routine is.
- g00dn3ss, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0So the thing you're worried about is making things less convenient for stalkers? I'm not saying I want it to be more convenient but you've got a false sense of security if it's based on the convenience of stalking. I can get exactly the same thing right now by paying a private detective to follow you around for a week - assuming I don't get a thrill from doing it myself.
I am much more concerned about the potential government abuses of this data. I think it won't be long before this is just as acceptable as the implied ID requirement on airlines. It is exactly the same issue at stake - anonymous travel.
- g00dn3ss, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0So the thing you're worried about is making things less convenient for stalkers? I'm not saying I want it to be more convenient but you've got a false sense of security if it's based on the convenience of stalking. I can get exactly the same thing right now by paying a private detective to follow you around for a week - assuming I don't get a thrill from doing it myself.
- glock22ownr, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Wow...just wow... good news for any serial killer I guess, all you have to do is buy reports... No more stalking, no more sitting in tree tops at night, or whatever the h311 they do, just buy a license plate report... I'm moving to Canada... very far into Northern Canada... as long as I have the net I'm good.
- onehrcleaner, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The subway is DEFINITELY looking better.
I could see how it could help in law enforcement, but where do you draw the line? Could also aid in the enforcement of the influx of illegal immigrants and those who transport them. I like that idea. - carlosglz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2We need to put a stop to this...
- Superthug, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1So now we will have "high-tech" stalkers and rapists.
- mitchk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3We need to turn this on "Big Brother". Track them, put up web pages with the location of all police units in a city. That will get them to lock down access to this information quickly.
- vheissu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4So does this mean that eventually, the guy I cut off will be able to find me and hunt me down w/ a shotgun?
- Dag_Yo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I think you'd have to be REALLY, REALLY mad in a passive-aggressive sort of way in order to do that.
Biff: "Wat in the heeelll? He dun gone just cut me off right hmmiah! Gets mah gun, sis!"
Sally: "You dun wan shoot him now, do yuh?"
Biff: "Nah, you's right... I's gonna looks his ass up on tha Internets! Den I go mess him up gooood."
- Dag_Yo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I think you'd have to be REALLY, REALLY mad in a passive-aggressive sort of way in order to do that.
- bayareadon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0That is not good...We need to put a stop to this!!
- tmcdigg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3isn't that great! why don't you just put your home address on your vehicle.. its as good as the same thing. i'd like to see where all the personal telephone numbers of our public officials, including the president... if the people's information should be made pubilc, than the law makers should be fair game.. and their families as well.. you'll see how they shudder when its the privacy of people they care about as risk...
- Pyrogen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Um... This technology was originally sold to private security before law enforcement. Its just that LE has uses it more publically, whereas private security forces use it on fixed assets like gates and checkpoints.
Private security forces (especially ones protecting Fortune 500 companies or vital infrastructure) have the money for toys like license plate recongition. Unless you live in the People's Republic of California, 99% of the stuff law enforcement gets to play with - you can buy yourself. Welapons, spy stuff, etc. - lamestory, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0who gives a *****?? SHow me where I can lookup a plate # and get someone's name and address! Who cares who tracks your plate? If you're that afraid of it, don't drive anywhere!
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