Comment on NYPD faces backlash as it prepares to encrypt radio communications | New York | The Guardian
KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 months agoLicense plates are not private, they literally sit out in public all day. Descriptions are, again, not private. Even your license info is public.
Not to mention, police reports are info that can be requested with a FOIA request. So all that info is public anyway, even if it was originally private.
Kusimulkku@lemm.ee 8 months ago
Would you be willing to share your license plate number here?
License plate, connected to description and description of the situation, medical stuff etc. would obviously be something I wouldn’t want broadcasted to just anyone. I don’t know how Americans are comfortable with that.
Or well, probably aren’t since they’re finally getting around to encrypting that stuff. It’s wild that it wasn’t done before.
KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 months ago
Here? No. I keep my online and personal lives separate. That would be directly tying what are essentially two different people together.
Are you willing to put your license plate on a piece of paper and display it on your house? What about your address on your car? Your name on your car, house, phone number?
All this info is already there. You can find it all yourself, or pay like $15 to have a company do it for you, and you’ll get a boatload more. Employer history, address history, vehicle history, current phone number, current address, and more.
I guarantee this info is all readily available in other countries as well, though I admit the legality of general public getting their hands on it may be in question.
Kusimulkku@lemm.ee 8 months ago
I wouldn’t want any of my info being broadcasted to public without my specific approval. Especially connected to other info like a specific situations with police, medical info, whatever might come up. Imagine being a victim and on top of the shittyness of that having all your info just broadcasted out like that.
You said license plates were public info you were fine with being broadcasted in public. Not sure why you’re hesitating now.
I’m being facetious. Of course I know. Nobody wants that shit being broadcasted out without their approval. Imagine if I just shared your address or license plate. The audience here is undoubtedly smaller than what you’d get with NYC police radio, but still.
KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 months ago
Why would a victims information be broadcast over the radio? And why would it matter? “Omg someone on the other side of town is going to know I got stabbed I’m so embarrassed!”
It’s not like they are sitting there over the radio giving a deep dive on the person.
That’s like saying “if we were talking face to face you’d be comfortable introducing yourself by name, why are you hesitating now?”
The audience here is gigantic. This is a public website, accessible without credentials, store in perpetuity on any number of websites. And this is a username which has received death threats, among other threats.
I’m the other hand, anyone who knows my real name can just look up my address, assuming they know any number of secondary pieces of info. Literally saying “Hi I’m Kairu Byte from Beverly Hills” would likely be enough info to get my exact address. Or, just punch my license plate into a website.
I get that you feel like that info is private in the real world, but it really isn’t. Not in the slightest.