Facebook Won't Take Down Undercover Cop Page In Australia 254
New submitter jaa101 writes "Facebook has refused a request from Australian police to take down a page with details of undercover police vehicles saying it cannot stop people taking photos in public places. The original story is paywalled and it doesn't give a link to the relevant page which seems to be here . This page for the state of Victoria has 12000 likes but a similar page for the state of Queensland has over 34000, and there are other Australian pages too."
Re:Don't complain about crime then (Score:5, Insightful)
If the police are being outed undercover then don't whine when crime occurs.
If "Law Enforcement" didn't regularly abuse their sweeping privileges, maybe this wouldn't even have come up?
Undercover? (Score:4, Insightful)
Unmarked != undercover... or is that what Aussies call their unmarked cars?
Re:Don't complain about crime then (Score:5, Insightful)
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Shoe on the other foot (Score:4, Insightful)
Sucks when the law works against you, doesn't it?
Good for facebook - teach these little hitlers that society works both ways. Being a part of the executive doesn't provide you with special privilege.
Re:Erm... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Don't complain about crime then (Score:5, Insightful)
The thin blue line should be thinner around consensual crime, and around extracting cash from motorists by parking themselves on mis-zoned "speeding hotspots", and thicker around thefts and violent crime.
The police near us regularly set up speed traps along a six-lane, divided road zoned at 60kmh (it was zoned thus 20 years ago, when it was just a two-lane road, and hasn't been changed as the road's grown) or just before the onramp to the freeway, where the speed limit changes from 60kmh to 110kmh over a few hundred metres.
Meanwhile, when some friends of ours were robbed, the police just told them to call their insurance company, and check out the local pawn shops.
Re:Don't complain about crime then (Score:4, Insightful)
Additionally, due to inaccuracies in speedometers and poor reaction times (e.g. to changing slopes of hills), it's impossible to drive at or under 60 without having your speedo sitting more like 53-55, in which case you will in fact be driving dangerously by going significantly slower than the flow of traffic. The problem with speed limits/speeding is that speeding is not inherently dangerous (at reasonable speeds; certainly driving 150 is). Rather, moving at a significantly different speed than the flow of traffic is dangerous. I am in fact putting myself and those around me in more danger by driving at 60 if everyone around me is going 75 than by driving 75 with them. The answer certainly isn't to abolish speed limits, but the point is that strict enforcement of speed limits increases revenue, not safety.
Re:Wait, the police always said... (Score:5, Insightful)
Are they now saying that information can be misused by wrong-doers, and that privacy actually has a value?
Almost. They're saying their privacy has value and your privacy doesn't. Although this is hardly the first time authority has claimed exemption from its own laws. While I'm sure there are earlier examples, it was Syrus who first said "Ad calamitatem quilibet rumor valet", which translated means "Every rumor is believed when directed against the unfortunate." That's how authority keeps people supporting it no matter how bad the justification is. I could be a police officer and right now get up, walk outside, and shoot the first person I see in the head. No reason whatsoever. But here's the thing: The human mind can't handle reasonless action. All actions require justification, and so we fill in what we don't know with what we expect. What we want.
In the end, the guy I just shot in the head, well... he deserved it. He must have done something. Why else would me, the nice police officer, have shot him?
And that's how they get you -- every time. Authority is always right because authority is always right because...
Re:Don't complain about crime then (Score:5, Insightful)
Amen brother. The police say that this facebook page is compromising police safety? How do you think people realized it was an unmarked police car? Because it identified itself when it pulled someone over for a bullshit traffic violation. If it's so urgent that the car's identity remain unknown, perhaps they shouldn't blow the cover over meaningless bullshit.