hbaker1@pipeline.com
Date: Thu, 07 Feb 2019 07:01:14 -0800
"Google and Waze Must Stop Sharing Drunken-Driving Checkpoints, New York
Police Demand"
So what's good for the goose (NYPD) isn't so good for the gander (ordinary citizens) ?
https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-metro-license-plate-reader-grab-20190119-story.html
"NYPD's Domain Awareness System, which is linked to area squad cars equipped with license plate readers that digitally capture 1,000 license plates every day."
https://theintercept.com/2018/09/06/nypd-surveillance-camera-skin-tone-search/
"With access to images of thousands of unknowing New Yorkers offered up by
NYPD officials ... IBM was creating new search features that allow other
police departments to search camera footage for images of people by hair
color, facial hair, and skin tone."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop-and-frisk_in_New_York_City
"[NYPD's stop-and-frisk] program became the subject of a racial profiling
controversy. The vast majority, 90% in 2017, of those stopped were
African-American or Latino ... 70% of all those stopped were later found to
be innocent... Research suggests that stop-and-frisk had few effects, if
any, on violent and property crime rates in New York City. "
https://www.brennancenter.org/blog/brooklyn-court-nypds-use-cell-phone-trackers-unconstitutional
"a New York State court in Brooklyn ruled that the NYPD's use of Stingrays without a warrant was unconstitutional"
https://www.aclu.org/blog/privacy-technology/surveillance-technologies/new-nypd-drone-policy-represents-serious-threat
"NYPD's drones are outfitted with cameras equipped with sophisticated technology and 4K resolution"
"NYPD's drone policy places no meaningful restrictions on police deployment of drones in New York City and opens the door to the police department building a permanent archive of drone footage of political activity and intimate private behavior visible only from the sky"
https://www.businessinsider.com/nypd-surveillance-archives-2018-2
"In September, the New York City Municipal Archives launched an
unprecedented exhibit showcasing NYPD surveillance materials from 1960 to
1975 ... The exhibit, "Unlikely Historians: Materials Collected by NYPD
Surveil lance Teams", gives visitors a small taste of just how far NYPD
detectives went to infiltrate political organizations and investigate people
they considered a threat."
Michael Gold, *The New York Times*, 6 Feb 2019
Google and Waze Must Stop Sharing Drunken-Driving Checkpoints, New
York Police Demand
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/06/nyregion/waze-nypd-location.html
Google's navigation app Waze is known for providing real-time, user-submitted reports that advise drivers about potential thorns in their roadsides.
But one feature has Waze in conflict with law enforcement officials across the country: how the app marks the location of police officers on the roads ahead or stationed at drunken-driving checkpoints.
Over the weekend, the New York Police Department, the largest force in the nation, joined the fray, sending a letter to Google demanding that the tech giant pull that feature from Waze.
In the letter, which was first reported on by Streetsblog, the Police
Department said that allowing people to share the locations of sobriety
checkpoints impeded its ability to keep streets safe.
"The posting of such information for public consumption is irresponsible since it only serves to aid impaired and intoxicated drivers to evade checkpoints and encourage reckless driving," the department's acting deputy commissioner for legal matters, Ann P. Prunty, wrote in the letter. "Revealing the location of checkpoints puts those drivers, their passengers, and the general public at risk."
Ms. Prunty added that people sharing the locations of sobriety checkpoints on Waze might be breaking the law by trying "to prevent and/or impair the administration" of the state's D.W.I. laws and that the department planned to "pursue all legal remedies" to stop people from sharing "this irresponsible and dangerous information."
It was not immediately clear what legal steps might be taken.
Waze does not allow drivers to specifically identify sobriety checkpoints.
But people who use the app's police reporting feature can leave detailed
comments on the cartoonish icon of a mustachioed police officer that pops
up.
Google said in a statement on Wednesday that safety was a "top priority" and
"that informing drivers about upcoming speed traps allows them to be more
careful and make safer decisions when they're on the road." ...