The Government Can Use GPS to Track Your Moves

[Bateluer]

No, Hitler said "I think if we breed a race of perfect humans, we can take over the world, and I get to decide what is perfect."

HUGE difference there.

Of course, you could also reference East Germany, the USSR, or communist China. Any police state in history, really. More effective modern technology makes it more scary and dangerous though.

 

[Terzo]

An interesting point is could you get 10 years in prison for destroying government property if you took it off and threw it in a river?

You're going about this the wrong way. Why destroy them when you can sell them?

 

[Nintendesert]

No, but they might track people whose politics they don't like. They might track people that write blogs and say things they don't like. Who can say. President Clinton had his detractors audited by the IRS time after time. The more control people in high positions have over you, the more they will abuse it. History proves this time and time again.

When people support this stuff, they need to ask themselves if it is a power they would have liked the previous administration to have over them. If it isn't, then it shouldn't be a good choice just because the person in the White House temporarily changed.

 

[lxskllr]

So, you seriously think that "the government" (which is a cover-all term---nobody ever names a specific branch of government that would do this) would spend hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars on common people just to monitor exciting things like:

- Go to the grocery store
- Fill the car with gas
- Buy clothes at the mall
- Stop at the bank
- Go to an Italian restaurant
- Take Jimmy to football practice
- Listen in on grandma's secret goulash recipe
etc...

Do you think they have this huge database named "Mundane Things We Track That May Be Useful One Day" or something? They don't have the manpower to track all of the serious criminals, much less mom going to the salon.

The complete sidestepping of due process is unacceptable. Either get a warrant, or do nothing.

 

[Terzo]

So, by extension, the police have no reasonable expectation of privacy when the police cars are parked wherever they park them, be it the Dunken Donuts parking lot, or wherever. A criminal could attach devices to every police car in his city and monitor where they are at all times. If he wants to rob a bank... Oh no, not now, there's a squad car 3 blocks away. Okay, now the closest car is 4 miles from that bank. Go go go go!

Or a lawyer could do that. Cop pulls someone over, you pull up right behind them and offer legal council. It'd be a whole new era for ambulance chasers!

 

[sportage]

Yeah like I care if the feds know Im at wally world.
This feeds the paranoid me thinkest...

Did you also know when you look out of your window, people can see you too?

 

[lxskllr]

Yeah like I care if the feds know Im at wally world.
This feeds the paranoid me thinkest...

Did you also know when you look out of your window, people can see you too?

You might not care, but the Nazis, communists, Black Panthers, and Teabaggers might care. Don't think for a second this won't be used to spy on people with unpopular political opinions. That's the whole reason we have a fuckin' constitution. It isn't to protect granny from government surveillance when she goes to the store. It's to protect people that have unpopular ideas, and allow them to express their ideas without government interference.

 

[gevorg]

Those who give up their liberty for more security neither deserve liberty nor security.

Benjamin Franklin, 1775

 

[spidey07]

You might not care, but the Nazis, communists, Black Panthers, and Teabaggers might care. Don't think for a second this won't be used to spy on people with unpopular political opinions. That's the whole reason we have a fuckin' constitution. It isn't to protect granny from government surveillance when she goes to the store. It's to protect people that have unpopular ideas, and allow them to express their ideas without government interference.

You get it. Bravo.

 

[13Gigatons]

The sad part of the article is that this guy was just growing Marijuana.

So much fuss over a plant.

 

[Fritzo]

You might not care, but the Nazis, communists, Black Panthers, and Teabaggers might care. Don't think for a second this won't be used to spy on people with unpopular political opinions. That's the whole reason we have a fuckin' constitution. It isn't to protect granny from government surveillance when she goes to the store. It's to protect people that have unpopular ideas, and allow them to express their ideas without government interference.

Arguments like these always shift the subject from "what happened" to "what could happen with a completely different situation and different variables."

In this case, the guy had illegal drugs and it was acted upon, but with a more direct approach than probably should have been taken.

In your senario, there is policital oppression for an opinion (not illegal).

Again, it's back to my "If you don't do anything illegal, nobody will be watching you." statement. And you have to admit, we can do an awful lot in the US without breaking any laws. In fact, we have so much freedom here, that there is not A SINGLE THING I CAN THINK OF that I would normally do that breaks any major laws.

(I say major laws because everyone speeds or jaywalks from time to time---and even when breaking those laws you don't have to worry about the "government" wiretapping your phone or tracking you.)

 

[lxskllr]

It's illegal search and seizure. They engage in criminal trespass, and illegally modify your car, to watch where you go. The person whose car was illegally modified was guilty of nothing at that point. Last time I checked you were innocent until proven guilty. Did that recently change too?

 

[Fritzo]

It's illegal search and seizure. They engage in criminal trespass, and illegally modify your car, to watch where you go. The person whose car was illegally modified was guilty of nothing at that point. Last time I checked you were innocent until proven guilty. Did that recently change too?

If the seizure was illegal, it will be thrown out in court and the charges will be dropped. Happens all the time.

 

[Sclamoz]

Arguments like these always shift the subject from "what happened" to "what could happen with a completely different situation and different variables."

In this case, the guy had illegal drugs and it was acted upon, but with a more direct approach than probably should have been taken.

In your senario, there is policital oppression for an opinion (not illegal).

Again, it's back to my "If you don't do anything illegal, nobody will be watching you." statement. And you have to admit, we can do an awful lot in the US without breaking any laws. In fact, we have so much freedom here, that there is not A SINGLE THING I CAN THINK OF that I would normally do that breaks any major laws.

(I say major laws because everyone speeds or jaywalks from time to time---and even when breaking those laws you don't have to worry about the "government" wiretapping your phone or tracking you.)

The FBI has in the past monitored and spied on political, religious, and environmental groups whether they were doing anything wrong or not. I don't see why we shouldn't assume they wouldn't consider using this to assist them.

 

[eits]

one of the main reasons i bought a smartphone in the first place was so i could be tracked. if i ever go missing or run off the road into a ditch somewhere and someone is looking for me, i want to make sure i can be tracked and found.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Had this happen to a coworker a few years back. His mechanic found it on his car and gave it to him. When he asked some people he knew were following him if they needed it back they said "actually, yea we do."

 

[TallBill]

Had this happen to a coworker a few years back. His mechanic found it on his car and gave it to him. When he asked some people he knew were following him if they needed it back they said "actually, yea we do."

Maybe he should stop killing hookers.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Your GPS may be off but they can still track you with the towers.

triangulation doesn't give good enough precision. If I'm in downtown San Francisco walking around where thousands of other people are walking down the sidewalks and many others are in offices around, it's kinda hard to tell where I am exactly... or who I am out of the crowd.. unless of course they have a name and photo tied, in which case I would GTFO. LOL.

 

[dmcowen674]

It's illegal search and seizure. They engage in criminal trespass, and illegally modify your car, to watch where you go. The person whose car was illegally modified was guilty of nothing at that point. Last time I checked you were innocent until proven guilty.

Did that recently change too?

Yes, the Supreme Court changed it to Guilty till proven innocent last year