Tag Archives: Technocracy

Michigan: Use Plate Scanners To Boot Cars With Overdue Library Books

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“Around the same time, Bridgeport, Connecticut began using license plate scanning cameras to hunt down vehicles owned by minor debtors. The first victim of the then-new system, Calvin Carter, had $200 in back property taxes. At the time his car was hit, he was 100 feet from city hall, about to pay his taxes. New Haven used its camera scanners to seize cars from parishioners attending Sunday Mass and shoppers while they were in Wal-Mart. The city later transitioned to using the Denver boot as a cheaper alternative to towing. To have the car released, the alleged debtor must pay the original fine plus recovery costs.”

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/42/4224.asp

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Next Stop On The Road To Surveillance State: License Plate Scanners

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“In Sanford, Florida, police are already sending ‘Dear John’ notices in the mail the owners of cars that cops see ‘lingering in areas known for prostitution.’ The goal here isn’t to arrest would-be Johns. This is extra-judicial punishment. The goal is to embarrass these guys should their wives open the letters. Michigan lawmakers are currently considering a bill that would enable police to put a boot on any car whose owner owes state or local government any amount of money. Arlington County, Virginia, passed a similar law in 2005, causing county treasurer Frank O’Leary to say, ‘I rub my hands together in great glee and anticipation. I think it’s beautiful, it gives us a whole new dimension to collection.'”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/20/next-stop-on-the-train-to_n_4309261.html

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Iowa funds $200-per-user app to stop teen texting and driving

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“In addition to allowing parents to track their kids’ routes and activity, the app will send notifications if the apps’ text-blocking feature is disabled, the app is deleted, the teen stops too fast (decelerating more than 7 mph per second), or the teen runs a stop sign. The app will keep reports and driving trips on record for six months.  Iowa intends to foot the bill of $4 per month for the Web portal for any users between the ages of 14 and 17. Based on an estimate of 100,000 Iowa drivers that age, the Department of Transportation estimates that about 10,000 people will be able to use the app. This amounts to a cost of $192 per teen using the app until they turn 18, at total project cost of $480,000 per year.”

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/11/iowa-funds-200-per-user-app-to-stop-teen-texting-and-driving/

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American Express Ex-Chief Privacy Officer On ‘The Last Days of Cash’

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“Andy Roth, a partner in Dentons’ Privacy and Security Group, and Victor Boyajian, a partner in Dentons’ Venture Technology Group, explore the evolution of digital payments, virtual currencies and security. The video examines:  Bitcoin and other virtual currencies;
Regulatory issues in connection to digital payments;  The balance between privacy and technological progress;  Privacy as a product or feature; and The outlook for consumer payments.”

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Sanitizing Bitcoin: This Company Wants To Track ‘Clean’ Bitcoin Accounts

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“Waters expects tensions. With Coin Validation, he’s proposing a centralized tracking system that he knows won’t sit well with some hardliners in the community.  ‘The existing Bitcoin community will find this very controversial from a privacy perspective. But it’s simple, straightforward and opt in,’ says Waters. Bitcoin businesses will opt in to the system, and customers that don’t want to be in the database would need to not use those businesses.  He predicts in the future that every user will have at least one address that’s self identified, ‘or at least every user who wants to do business in the U.S.'”

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/11/13/sanitizing-bitcoin-coin-validation/print/

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New street lights that can record your conversations installed in Vegas

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“The wireless, LED lighting, computer-operated lights are not only capable of illuminating streets, they can also play music, interact with pedestrians and are equipped with video screens, which can display police alerts, weather alerts and traffic information. The high tech lights can also stream live video of activity in the surrounding area.  But there’s one major concern. These new street lights, being rolled out with the aid of government funding, are also capable of recording video and audio.  The lights are being touted as security devices that can assist with ‘Homeland Security’ measures by providing applications like video surveillance and motion sensors.”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2497624/Las-Vegas-street-lights-record-conversations.html

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National Microphone Spy System Capable of Recording Conversations

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“The revelations of Edward Snowden shone fresh light on NSA spying targeting the American people, but what has gone largely unnoticed is the fact that a network of different spy systems which can record real time conversations are already in place throughout many urban areas of the United States, as well as in the technology products we buy and use on a regular basis.  These systems are no secret – they are hiding in plain view – and yet concerns about the monolithic potential for their abuse have been muted.”

http://www.infowars.com/spy-grid-can-now-record-your-conversations-in-real-time/

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Now the taxman is spying on your home using Google Earth

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“HMRC has spent nearly £1billion over the past three years trying to enforce the rules. Over the past 18 months, it has set up dozens of taskforces to probe the tax receipts and business practices of industries as diverse as restaurants, private cab firms, hairdressers, outdoor markets, car dealerships and even Avon Ladies. It has also spent £50million on the supercomputer, which is called Connect. Created by defence giant BAE Systems three years ago, it now holds more than a billion pieces of information about any taxpayers it suspects.  It includes tax payment records, interest on bank accounts, details of any properties owned, loans, job history and electoral records.”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2494152/Now-taxman-spying-home-using-Google-Earth-Satellite-images-clues-wealth-lifestyle-youre-paying-enough.html

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HealthCare.gov: How political fear was pitted against technical needs

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“Staffers were aware by late 2012 that the work of building the federal exchange was lagging. Employees repeatedly warned at meetings late last year and in January that so many things were behind schedule that there would be no time for adequate ‘end to end’ testing of how the moving parts worked together, the former HHS official said.  ‘People were just like, well . . . it’s a dynamic we can’t change,’ the former official said. ‘There wasn’t a way to push back or challenge it up the line. You had the policy people, largely at the White House, pushing the deadlines and tinkering with the policy, rather than the people who had to run the critical operating path design and program the system.'”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/challenges-have-dogged-obamas-health-plan-since-2010/2013/11/02/453fba42-426b-11e3-a624-41d661b0bb78_print.html

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PayPal Urges Regulatory Reform

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“In a new paper, PayPal recommends that regulators use data analytics to measure performance of a company and make regulations based on their findings, instead of basing regulations on design standards as happens today.  The paper advocates for SMART Governance, a decision-making model based on securing data on performance, using machines to organize databases, creating algorithms to derive insights, reassessing results and targeting insights to improve performance. Some players in the money transmitting market have talked about a single uniform license, similar to the EU, instead of the state-by-state licensing currently required in the U.S.”

http://www.paymentssource.com/news/paypal-urges-regulatory-reform-3015862-1.html

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