Automated license plate readers (ALPRs) aren’t just helping police investigate crimes anymore. They’re now being used to flag drivers for supposedly “suspicious” driving patterns.

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[–] 200 points 1 week ago (2 children)

The police don't need a computer to suspect you. They already suspect you.

They need a computer to blame the mistake on.

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  • [–] 97 points 1 week ago (3 children)

    "Do you know why I pulled you over?"

    "...do you?"

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  • [–] 72 points 1 week ago (11 children)

    The Wired article linked by the OP article mentions visiting multiple banks in a week as suspicious behavior that gets flagged… if we had a car (assuming it needs a license plate to attach to you and look up info), that would have pinged my spouse last week. Stupid fucks live in such ivory towers that they’ve never had a bank run out of quarters for the washing machine.

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  • I used to visit the bank way more often when living paycheck to paycheck because it was the only way to get ahead of insufficient funds charges. I was depositing cash from whatever I could sell to pay off the $25 per item overdraft fees.

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  • [–] 22 points 1 week ago (2 children)

    They don’t know what a washing machine is. They likely think it’s to clean golf balls.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 week ago (2 children)

    I got so tired of the quarters problem (bank online so I get ATM fees then have to go to a laundromat to pretend I’m doing laundry there) that I bought a whole-ass washing machine for $180 to avoid the problem.

    I’m actually saving a ton of money and because my landlord is checked out and lives far from here he’ll never know we have a portable washer in our apartment.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    I’m actually saving a ton of money and because my landlord is checked out and lives far from here he’ll never know we have a portable washer in our apartment.

    Why would your landlord have a problem with a portable washer in your apartment? Is there language written into your lease prohibiting it?

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  • [–] 53 points 1 week ago* (5 children)

    Not a new problem unfortunately.

    Among the things courts or cops have deemed "suspicious":

    Booking a nonstop flight

    Booking a flight with a layover

    Traveling alone

    Traveling with a companion

    People who appear nervous

    People who appear ?too calm?

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  • [–] 41 points 1 week ago* (1 child)

    You left off these ones from the list which are pretty funny

    Being the first person off a plane

    Being the last person off a plane

    Someone authorities believe has tried to blend in to the middle of exiting passengers'

    So... getting off a plane then.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 week ago

    No, but now AI can mass-search for those reasons, or combine them, for all of us. You won't even know you were targeted as a political enemy until you're in an interrogation room...

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  • [–] 33 points 1 week ago (2 children)

    This is exactly why law enforcement using a nationwide surveillance system constantly gathering evidence on everyone passing one of their cameras is a 4th amendment violation.

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  • [–] 9 points 1 week ago

    Bingo. Any reasonable judge would toss these cases for not having probable cause.

    This also seems like easy legislation at the federal level. "Driving patterns gleaned from the use of an ALPR system does not, by itself, constitute probable cause."

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  • [–] 2 points 1 week ago

    In a country that has been building its infrastructure around personal automobiles for decades, we cannot make that necessary function of daily life be an automatic consent to targeted analysis.

    I get that cameras pointed at intersections and highways are here to stay. That means there will be records of what happens in public places that can be analyzed for a certain person's movements once there's a warrant.

    That's the whole fucking point of warrants and 4th amendment protections. Just because the technical ability exists to analyze somebody's Personally Indentifiable Information doesn't mean you just get to do it. Just like you don't get to listen to any phone call you want, or plant bugs and trackers on everybody you are curious. (A group of three-letter agencies enters the chat, lol)

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  • [–] 25 points 1 week ago

    "Papers, please."

    This is the future Republicans want more of...

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  • [–] 22 points 1 week ago (4 children)

    So, it looks for the dark skinned people?

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  • [–] 9 points 1 week ago (2 children)
  • [–] 27 points 1 week ago

    Looking for crimes, not criminals.

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  • [–] 13 points 1 week ago

    "Just following AI's orders."

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  • [–] 11 points 1 week ago (2 children)

    ctOS from Watch Dogs was supposed to be a warning... It wasn't supposed to become a real system.

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  • [–] 20 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    Looks like the AI flagged you with code rgb(244,164,96)....

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  • [–] 8 points 1 week ago*

    If they're going to keep doing ALPR cameras, license plates should be abolished, as they are compelled speech.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 week ago

    I remember seeing that documentary called Minority Report.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 week ago*

    Anyone have links for actual abuse. Stories, cases, real links that show major corruption and abuse of this tech? Large scale the better. I have contacts in a group law firm looking for cases. Maybe people in those positions can make change. Get into the headlines. Link the best reports you can find below.

    Upvote this and let's get traction.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 week ago

    Yayyyy three cheers for pre-crime

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  • [–] 8 points 1 week ago

    Suspicious is going to be non Tesla electric car owners...

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  • [–] 4 points 1 week ago

    The longer I live, the more correct I am for never leaving the basement.

    Maybe next life yall. Peace.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 week ago (2 children)

    I mean I got pulled over for DWB so, meh.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 week ago (4 children)

    Not driving and not having kids are two things you can do to exempt yourself from a world of possible legal issues.

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  • [–] 15 points 1 week ago (3 children)

    Walking on the side of the street invites its own set of legal issues.

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  • [–] 12 points 1 week ago (2 children)

    This one always gets me, walking home from the bar drunk (to avoid driving) can get you thrown in prison, or shot. At least in the US.

    Honestly a cop would give you less hassle if you drove home drunk.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 week ago*

    Combining a car's movement behaviour via ANPR/ALPR with known drug routes has been going on for over a decade. This is AI in the data science and pattern recognition sense and not the media hyped LLM sense

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  • [–] 1 point 1 week ago (1 child)
  • [–] -2 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    US police was using magic wands to detect drugs at schools and mark lockers that need to be searched. AI is not that strange.

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