This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
4th Amendment Over: Public Buses Adding Microphones To Record Conversations
Via Mike Krieger of Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,
Believe it or not the article itself is actually a lot worse than even the title implies. These microphones are in many cases being coupled with cameras in order to gain an even greater level of surveillance. All with grants from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Now honestly, does anyone really think this is for Al Qaeda? This is a great follow up to my piece from last week titled: Coming to Your Car: Mandatory Black Boxes That Record Everything.
From Wired:
Transit authorities in cities across the country are quietly installing microphone-enabled surveillance systems on public buses that would give them the ability to record and store private conversations, according to documents obtained by a news outlet.
The systems are being installed in San Francisco, Baltimore, and other cities with funding from the Department of Homeland Security in some cases, according to the Daily, which obtained copies of contracts, procurement requests, specs and other documents.
The systems use cables or WiFi to pair audio conversations with camera images in order to produce synchronous recordings. Audio and video can be monitored in real-time.
In Eugene, Oregon, the Daily found, transit officials requested microphones that would be capable of “distilling clear conversations from the background noise of other voices, wind, traffic, windshields wipers and engines” and also wanted at least five audio channels spread across each bus that would be “paired with one or more camera images and recorded synchronously with the video for simultaneous playback.”
The 4th Amendment is dead. I repeat, the terrorists won.
»
- 23561 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
Agreed, the terrorists won...
Not like we need more reasons for not riding in a public bus...
skynet going on line.... for your protection of course.
"The 4th amendment is dead"
No - It is America that is DEAD!
What's the big deal?
"I've done nothing wrong so I've got nothing to hide."
Or how about this gem?
"As long as it makes me feel safer, I don't care what they do!"
"I've heard things that will blow your mind"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkcgdrWEAiI
you think it's bad now?
Obama wants to equalize punishment rates for different races of kids in schools. Disparate impact and all of that. Surely, criminal prosecution rates are next for adjustment.
If you're asian, don't ever open your mouth, anywhere, ever. You imagine how many asian kids they will have to suspend for chewing gum or dropping a pencil to get things all leveled out?
There's some ordinance that you are violating right now and don't even know it...everyone is. And these bus cameras won't be used to hear racial epithets in these cities where gangs of worldstarhiphoppers beat up people without color...that will just be "random violence." It'll eventually have to be used against the people who CARE about getting sent to prison but who aren't doing the marxists the favor of committing crimes at the same rates as protected classes.
That's all well and good, but can you please explain for me how Negro stupidity results in American-brewed beer being so bland and lousy?
It'd be far more relevant.
COPS.
TO PROTECT AND SERVE THE CRIMINAL BANKERS.
You could say that again.
After face recognition software, voice recognition software needs to remove some kinks. for your safety.
http://www.aclu.org/pizza/images/screen.swf
If you put infrared LEDs into a baseball hat all those cameras can see is a brightness where your face belongs.
It used to be. Now software put a dot on the source of IR-LED to block the glare.
My next suggestion would be to assume the veil of a Saudi woman.
> Now software put a dot on the source of IR-LED to block the glare.
Yeah? So what happens when you light your fucking head on fire? They have to ID you with a fucking dentist - that's what.
Make 'em work for it.
We're all terrorists now, so therefore who has really won?
Don't forget gait recognition software. All put together, that's some biometric signature. For your safety of course.
COPS.
TO PROTECT AND SERVE THE CRIMINAL BANKERS.
Before we all die off, we ought to tell the younger generation that the police motto used to be "To Protect and Serve" -- how quaint that was.
To Punish and Enslave
All that $ to eavesdrop on Obama-loving hippies riding public transit in Eugene, OR. Un-fucking-believeable.
911 has flipped all the rules and the term "homeland security" is a cool Orwellian trick. The very thing that should be recorded, government transactions re: waterboards, corporate boards, and oil hoards are now protected from disclosure. Private conversations and anything inside the home is now fair game
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YvAYIJSSZY
Yes. When do you suppose they will start rounding up ter ro rist s? Do you suppose they will let us bring a toothbrush?
Sure. How else are we to clean their toilets?
Speaking of toilets... I used to be halfway paranoid about urinals with autoflush sensors for detecting presence of bodies. Thinking was along the lines of, "How hard would it be to install in those sensors minicams for recording my impressive hawg when it's out of its cage?" I mean, who wouldn't want to see it and have a recording for posterity? Now I have to worry about public transportation as well? Good grief.. Just hope my BMW convertible doesn't break down.
Where I'm at, the jokes on them, as the buses are EMPTY!!
The idiots they hire to design the routes couldn't produce a coherent one if their life depended on it. Whether this is all due to them, or the political directives they follow, it's hard to tell.
They don't even run the buses both directions on ANY route, so it is impossible to go somewhere and return without riding the entire route. At least they got smart enough to approve advertising on the buses, so now you can't see that it is empty, as they've covered the windows with silk-screening.
But hey, other than spending (and losing) millions per year, how else could I have this valuable public service of rolling, polluting billboards?
Fill in the blanks.
Congradulations to all fellow americans for making this country a ------------ country.
"To Serve and Protect" has become "To Harass and Collect" if you ask me.
to observe and collect
America might be dead, but its body has been reanimated and is now walking around eating brains.
America was finished when "buses" became acceptable English:
It's "busses" and always shall be. Oh how Ajax fusses !!
Building Skynet can save our crumbling economy, I just know it!
having ridden public busses, i can assure you there is very little conversation to begin with, and such conversation as there is, is either mindless drivel, or concerns seating
the only thing i can think of that is worse than recording bus conversation , is listening to bus conversation
No human will listen to it, unless "keywords" are detected.
They don't really have any other purpose than creating a panopticon. Terrorist don't ride on busses except for putting explosives on them and I doubt that they will talk about it while on the bus.
"Hi! My name is Mahmood. I'm from Eugene, Oregon. Mind if I put this C4 under your seat?"
Government funded research studies show that 9.39% of terrorists prefer to plot their campaigns of mass destruction while riding public busses. The remainder seem to prefer public restrooms. Cameras and microphones coming to a toilet near you soon.
That's right. Which is why no eavsdropping technology will ever work. The terrorists use their own code words like "deliver the cake". All anyone will hear is normal sounding conversation. It's all just a huge waste of money, except to the defense contractors who are milking us dry.
Not an excuse!
This country is a joke.
You have a point, but the big picture is we are being increasingly watched and listened to. Those that seek this ubiquitous, big-brother BS, are now and have been for some time, working toward a constant surveillance of those they seek to keep enslaved and they will continue until we don't even have privacy inside our own minds.
Agreed, buses must be a low priority for surveillance. So if they are finally getting down the list to buses, imagine what they are already monitoring.
Without discounting your point, I see this designed more as creating an acceptable avenue for "free money" flow. All municipalities are gearing up to become federal welfare queens. Transit systems have long been at the top of this list as it provides a shiny facade of "helping the poor," even though the services provided never live up to the hype. The real purpose though?
As always, Rent Seeking 101.
OPM? Gimme!
around our house we call it "The Trough" or simply "Government Cheese".
911 changed everything.
(rubs hands together like a fly)
spinone finally got where i was going with it
+1
by the time they are bugging busses its because the only other place to eaves drop is on themselves
...and the frog gets a little warmer.
IMHO, 9/11 was an inside job that would allow the .gov to easily overrule the 4th Ammendment under the banner of "terrorism".
It's kind of interesting TPTB feel the need to gin up excuses to emasculate the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Why not just steam-roller it like Lincoln did. Perhaps their position is far more precarious than one might think.
considering the Patriot Act is over 1000 pages and was ready days after the event, I think you're on to something.
davey jones said "considering the Patriot Act is over 1000 pages and was ready days after the event, I think you're on to something"
considering the Patriot Act is over 1000 pages and was ready years before the event, I think you're on to something
fixed it for ya
good point. there was the officially ready and the unofficial
1989 omnibus crime bill? ;)
Basic digging reveals the unit's maker:
http://www.safetyvision.com/products/roadrecorder7000/
This particular model supports up to 12 cameras.
For the technically inclined:
https://t5_sites_static.s3.amazonaws.com/schipul-safetyvision/media/file...
Default interface is: 192.168.8.80 / 255.255.0.0
It sports a web-panel administration page hosted on 192.168.8.70, with the default of admin/admin.
Even more amusingly, the cameras have the default password of Admin/1234.
It will accept GPS input as well as a connection for cell radio communications.
All they had to do was dust off the anth*ax
"any man who finds himself on a bus at the age of 26 can account himself a failure"
Margret Thatcher
Or his parent's insurance.
"My mother always told me, 'There's always one weirdo on every bus'...but I could never find him."
Emo Phillips
Find a way to fight them.
They won because HS and Iran and Afganastain bankrupted us
SAVAK, KHAD, Shabiha, mukhabarat --all for your own good.
Until it isn't.
Naturally this will be only to investigate terist threats. Until the DEA drug warriors want to data mine it. And then the divorce and child support lawyers will want transcripts.
Sound like time for some street theater. Maybe a Animal Liberation Front boom plot paid for with drugs by Mexican Islamists and financed by Nigerian Cave Gnomes.
Edit: Given the state of maintenance on public busses, I wouldn't expect them to last very long.
If it's WIFI, then it can be cracked remotely. Bus signs on WIFI were similarly altered in this way.
Paint cans - to cover
Fly spray + BIC lighter = flame thrower.
Shit I'm now on the "official" watch list
Please don't tell me your definition of 'the terrorists' are towelheads hiding in caves... Let me guess ~ an Israeli based firm got the contract for installing these listening devices (which are utterly redundant anyway because with smartphones &/or car GPS systems, &/or credit cards, drivers licenses, etc. ANYTHING can be tracked at will)...
But yeah ~ If I'm going to be a 'terrorist' ~ I'm going to jump on a city bus and have open conversations about my clandestine activities... (rolls eyes)...
Right on Mr Sawyer-The terrorist are the CIA, DHS, MIC and the Bankers..............
Let's not forget the TSA, who seem to making a power grab for control of the US Interstate Highway system (see link below)
http://www.infowars.com/tsa-moves-to-sovietize-internal-travel/
If there's one thing the TSA is good at, it's grabbing things.
You left out NUMBER 1= M O S S A D
the true terrorists are the ones installing this spyware
yup...and using torture in quantanomo, stocking up on millions of hollow point amo and throwing their unquestioned allegience to Israel.
If by using the word terrorists you refer to the elite banksters and their puppets in government who false flag events then yes. I agree with you. If by using the word terrorist to describe a man in the middle east who straps a bomb on himself to rid his country of western war mongers (not an indictment of the soldier) then no. He has not won. He is dead and his country is still occupied.
Yet if I film a police officer, even in public, I can go to prison.
See, Glik v. City of Boston, et al
http://www.ca1.uscourts.gov/pdf.opinions/10-1764P-01A.pdf
The Soviet State of IL recently was told IT IS legal to film an on-duty cop by the courts.
Welcome to USSA.
who cares. only statists and savages use public transportation
It's like "Fahrenheit 451" & "1984" had an illegitimate child and named it Amerika.
Reflexive +1
Hey toss in a little Ipad and Dancing with the Stars souma, don't leave out Aldous!
The terrorists won when we reacted the way we did after 9/11. There were plenty of voices questioning those reactions back then, for these very reasons--and they were ridiculed.
The U.S. has the power structure it asked for, and which it so richly deserves.
The terrorists didn't win then or now. Those elected and appointed to work for us have done this on their own, and we've allowed it.
No, they have been in office for a while now.
If you think you have nothing to hide so why worry about survelance keep this in mind:
You dont get to decide what is considered threatening or dangerous speech. That decision is left up to the people listening to you. You may not think you have anything to hide, but TPTB might disagree with you and if they do, youre kinda fucked.
The people "elected" one in 2008/2012 - well it was rigged but whatever. All of TV and Hollywood love our mullah.
What terrorists?? OH you must mean the biggest terrorist the U.S government and its cronies in Al-CIAda
Avoid the fiscal cliff. Eliminate Homeland Security!
Department of Homeland Security = SHELL CORPORATION to funnel taxpayer dollars to Israeli based security & tech surveillance interests...
can they hear this -"FUCK YOU DHS,TSA,NSA,CIA,FBI,ET AL"
My cousin is all crazy about this stuff. Every time I say I hate obama he's all 'quiet, they'll hear you! '
He has a list of acronyms you can't say, won't talk on the phone, spends most of his time in the woods, etc....
I can't go that far yet, but I'm almost there...
its almost time to grow a beard, disappear, get wierd and move up into the mountains
Drones love wierd people with beards. And no one will hear the "booooooom!" when one delivers a housewarming gift up in the mountains.
I did that pretty much in the 70s but got bored and came back out in the 80s. I knew it was all going bad then but was off on the timing.
I'm good to go...just as soon as I find that elusive manual typewriter.
It's much more liberating to just say "Fuck you" to the system, and continue on with your day.
Fuck living in fear.
I bet they can read this......
I can’t think of anything more patriotic than violating the patriot act.
Author unknown
well if they really wanted my grandma's recipe for chicken and dumplings they should'a just asked!
What about her Beans & Franks recipe?...
1/2 lb. franks, cut in quarters
1/3 c. chopped onions
1 tbsp. butter
1 (16 oz.) can pork and beans
2 tbsp. catsup
1 tbsp. brown sugar or 1 Equal
1 tbsp. prepared mustard
1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Saute franks and onion in butter in skillet until franks are lightly browned. Add remaining ingredients, stir gently. Cook over medium heat about 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring often.
bet you wouldnt dare say that on a bus though
You can eat your dinner
eat your pork & beans
I eat more chicken any man's ever seen...
~~~
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf3KG8VAtJg
Edit: Actually, the recipe sounds good... But ~ the [16 oz. can of pork & beans] ingredient... That one made me laugh... It's like those HAMBURGER HELPER ads on TV... So yeah ~ you get some wannabe 'haute cuisine' chef who 'PERSONALIZES' a fucking batch of ground beef & hamburger helper by chopping in an onion or bell pepper...
Fucking Wolfgang Puck on a budget... Next thing you know, someone will be adding a few cubes of Velveeta into their powdered Mac&Cheese delicacy & serving it atop a piece of kale for presentation...
Sautee the franks in butter I thought rich in a certain mangled charm.
Or eat that before getting on a bus
You should name that recipe Cropdusting Fuel ;-)
If I had to ride a public bus (none where I live), I'd be stirring often myself.
Last bus I was on was about 25 years ago. The bus caught on fire and I wound up walking home anyhow. Sans bus fare refund.
I'll make sure to eat that before boarding a bus. They can record me farting loudly. Too bad they couldn't record the smell. Cocksuckers.
Cool,
Another sloppy monitoring system to use and capture evidence broadcast over the air.
isnt it for our own safety?
/sarc
You know the story, you can never be too safe and if it will save one life, it's worth it.
This will be used to kill thousands, perhaps millions, but if they save one precious little white girl pimp her to all the talk shows, the sheeple will eat it up.
Actually, don't hate on me (I don't make the "rules"), but public buses are...."public," and under a critical mass of stare decisis, there's absolutely no reasonable expectation of privacy in any public space (there may be an exception to this black letter rule of law that I'm not aware of, but if so, it's the exception, and please remind me or inform me of it) under the 4th Amendment or any other consituonal "area."
The general rule of thumb, in layman's terms, is to never expect that you're not being photographed, recorded or otherwise identified or monitored in any public space in modern day America, if you are in a public space.
I believe under the letter of the law, you are correct. "Public" means public.
Most people now are more than happy to have everybody in earshot hear their telephone conversations, so I don't see the problem here.
Have you ever heard how people speak into their telephones when they are taking public transportation? It's as though they finally got their close-up with Mr. Demille.
@Tsar Pointless
You are so totally right. Everyone preening for their 15 minutes at the watercooler, bank teller line, etc. In other news, the CALM law goes into effect today, so big brother is going to protect our ears from loud commercials, too.
they are only turning down the commercials so they can hear your conversations better
people just dont talk during the show, and they need to be able to hear your conversations to properly tailor the advertising to your needs
<no sarc>
It's not just public, it's private too.
http://news.cnet.com/2100-1029-6140191.html
"Most people now are more than happy to have everybody in earshot hear their telephone conversations, so I don't see the problem here"
I do. Privacy is privacy, regardless of what the majority thinks or how the majority behaves.
@TruthInSunshine
I think there's a reasonable expectation that if you are alone on a bus and you let out a gigantic buritto fart, then no one should be listening. I hope this makes you chuckle and realize the constant, creeping unnecessary nosiness of big bother. There's no excusing it.
Cursive no one lets out a gigantic burrito fart while they sit there. They wait till there stop and rip it on the way out. That is known as "cropdusting" and it cannot be caught by microphone or on tape.
God, I love this site. One moment I'm paranoid and the next I'm laughing at the hilarity of the whole thing.
First site I check in the morning and last one before computer is turned off.
Peeps, I never said I liked it, but was just stating the law as interpretred repeatedly & consistently by the wise elders of our beloved Supreme Court (Marbury v. Madison, bitchez).
If I'm technically wrong in my interpretation, you'll never find a person more humble (I hope) and wanting to be corrected, so I'll take no offense.
two points... first, when those court decisions where handed down... no one was thinking about nationwide surveilance systems, tracking people in real time through supercomputers... didn't exist. second, the legal system is corrupt and has been for a long time... the constitution was destroyed through the commerce clause, which has bascially been interpreted to allow the federal government to regulate anything and everything... just for starters.
I respect your opinions, and I'm not being condescending, but there are very current rulings from federal courts, all consistent with everything I've stated. In fact, there are relatively current rulings reiterating these principles from the SCOTUS itself.
Again, I'm not stating this is as it should be, nor consistent with the intent of the framers, but it's the modern reality until the highest court in the land decides to do a 180.
Anyone who thinks that they have an expectation of privacy to be respected under the province of our constitution that prevents their movements or voice from being monitored and recorded has never walked down a Manhattan street.
There are even fewer "privacy rights" that extend to people within airports, subway stations, etc.
p.s. - There was a recent case where a citizen suspected of drug trafficking had a GPS tracking device place on his motor vehicle, that was parked in his driveway, sans warrant, and was subsequently arrested for said drug trafficking. He challenged the arrest on grounds that the placing of the GPS tracking device on his vehicle without a warrant invalidated the action of law enforcement, since his driveway, essentially, was not a "public space," and won. I think that he would have lost had he chose to park on the adjacent city street (but that's speculation).
court decisions are simply a judge or a panel or judges' interpretation of the constitution.... they say that this orwellian insanity is constitutional... why they are where they are after all... I say they are wrong... that having a nationwide network or cameras and microphones hooked into supercomputers is an unreasonable invasion of privacy. that said, i hardly expect the court system to fix this, by now that should be obvious to just about everyone.
You're getting into the realm of legal theory/philosophy and what should be.
I'm speaking in terms of legal mechanics and what presently "is."
You're being thoughtful, contemplative and ebbing towards the ideal.
I'm sticking to the straight yellow line on the two lane highway of present reality (for purposes of this topic).
ok, but we all know what is going on... so what? i could summarize it in a word.... fascism.
I certaintly am about as opposed as one could be to the mission creep and ever expanding intrusion of big.gov, but IMO, it's wise to know the rules by which the game is played.
I'm under the impression that it's been turned into a game of "gaming," with severe stakes hanging in the balance.
They are not Judges they are Administrators of the court , we have had no Judges in America since 1871.
@TruthInSunshine
No offense, brother. And fonzanoon has also enlightened me on the finer aspects of close proximity cropdusting. I appreciate your legal review of the situation. I don't doubt that "they" will find any and all reasons to do whatever they please to trample on our hard-won liberties and I don't doubt that we are united in our disgust and willingness to resist.
The fact that this is a public bus doesn't mean there isn't a "reasonable expectation of privacy." But you allude to the very purpose of this: to further restrict the "reasonable expectation of privacy" such that it isn't reasonable anywhere.
Previously, it would have been reasonable for us to speak together on a public bus and expect our conversation to be private. It isn't so much that we are on a public bus, but that we are merely speaking privately together. What's next? X-ray scanners that can see through everyone on the bus and identify everything that is on (or in) a person's body? Downloading all information off everyone's cell phone who gets on the bus? DNA samples stored along with pictures?
In a world where people elect as "Person of the Year" an evil dictator who tortures and kills by the thousands, nothing should surprise us anymore.
http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/12/13/and-the-winner-of-times-person-of-the-year-reader-poll-is/
He was elected man of the year for the lols. Off topic, but did you hear that Skrillex died last night?
Nonetheless, there was a time in this country when someone a bit too preoccupied with minding my business, rather than their own, was met with a rap on the beak and a heartfelt admonition to get the hell outta here before I permanently rearrange your face.......
In my backyard:
http://www.ca1.uscourts.gov/pdf.opinions/10-1764P-01A.pdf
http://www.malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIV/TitleI/Chapter272/S...
It is illegal to record the voice of a private citizen in my state without their consent and it can't be inferred. The court did rule however, one can record a "public official" while in the performance of their duties.
Of course these days, usurping The United States Constitution and the Rule of Law in general is no longer big deal.
First, the law on a private citizen recording another person varies from state to state, and isn't "on all fours," legally speaking, with this subject matter.
The government can and does set up CCTV, sound recorders and other monitoring equipment that captures images and noises that emanate from public spaces all day, every day, in public spaces, and it's perfectly legal/constitutional according to the Supreme Court.
Images are good all day long, not so for audio.
From The U.S. Supreme Court, Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347 (1967):
The Supreme Court has, for the most part, not addressed the issue of whether or not the Katz standard is applicable to wiretaps that are undertaken for national security, as opposed to criminal prosecution, purposes.
Looks like it's going to be tested.
The facts presented in that case are wholly different than what's being discussed in this thread, though.
A wiretap instituted by law enforcement in an area that is being (apparently) argued not to be a public space, under the alleged claim of "national intelligence," is a different ball of wax.
It's an interesting case, though.
The last time I was on a public bus there was some batshit crazy guy one there rambling about everything. This guy would have sent TPTB on 50 wild goose chases.
Let the games begin
Fuck you Obamma!
Record that bitch!
I am still confuse. Who are you guys talking about, Osama or Obama, Saddam Hussein or Barack hussein, ehud burak or barak hussain.
or we got Burak Saddam Osama in the white house?
they have chips in the new cars too
I'm holding out for the brain implants.
<Hold still. This won't hurt a bit.>
Come to think of it, if they just give everyone a lobotomy instead of a brain implant, there would be no need to track anyone.
Actually, that's probably in the health care bill.
You'd have to read it to know...
The MSM has been giving non-surgical lobotomies for decades.
All the more reason to NOT buy something that loses thousands of value the second you drive the bitch off the lot.....that and the majority of them are shit.
I'm sure I will get junked by some fat ass Michigan union thugs who decided to troll today instead of protest.
Most newer cars already have event data recorders (black boxes). They may not record "everything" but can be used in the event of an accident. Of course, they are not flawless either.
your own car can testify against you in court. brilliant!
when the last days of fiat currency fun are in sight, you dance all night while the music still plays
Never saw this coming. Not in a million years.
/sarc
Soon in your home!