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Electronic Frontier Foundation Privacy Software Technology

EFF Unveils VR Tool To Help People Spot Surveillance Devices In Their Communities (eff.org) 24

Posted by BeauHD from the i-Spy dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Electronic Frontier Foundation: The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) launched a virtual reality (VR) experience on its website today that teaches people how to spot and understand the surveillance technologies police are increasingly using to spy on communities. Spot the Surveillance, which works best with a VR headset but will also work on standard browsers, places users in a 360-degree street scene in San Francisco. In the scene, a young resident is in an encounter with police. Users are challenged to identify surveillance tools by looking around the scene. The experience takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. The surveillance technologies featured in the scene include a body-worn camera, automated license plate readers, a drone, a mobile biometric device, and pan-tilt-zoom cameras. The project draws from years of research gathered by EFF in its Street-Level Surveillance project, which shines a light on how police use, and abuse, technology to spy on communities.
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EFF Unveils VR Tool To Help People Spot Surveillance Devices In Their Communities More

EFF Unveils VR Tool To Help People Spot Surveillance Devices In Their Communities

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  • Winston!!! (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Bodhammer ( 559311 )
    "Inside the flat a fruity voice was reading out a list of figures which had something to do with the production of pig-iron. The voice came from an oblong metal plaque like a dulled mirror which formed part of the surface of the right-hand wall. Winston turned a switch and the voice sank somewhat, though the words were still distinguishable. The instrument (the telescreen, it was called) could be dimmed, but there was no way of shutting it off completely."

    "It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts

    • Don't vote for big government then (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      If you don't want your government to have the power to do this, DON'T VOTE FOR BIG GOVERNMENT.

      Geeez, is it really that hard?

      IF YOU GIVE A GOVERNMENT POWER, IT WILL ABUSE IT!!!!

      Grow the fuck up. If you don't like this, something like single-payer, government run healthcare should be your NIGHTMARE.

  • The overlay loads but the scenes don't in any of the three browsers I have installed on my Win 10 machine, nor the two on my OSX machine. Loading the page on my phone results in a loaded scene that tilts and pans around like my accelerometer is on crack. Damn shame.

  • No poop in the scene anywhere, or needles for that matter. Not even police surveillance poop with cameras disguised as poop.

    Also, it seemed a bit redundant to have you select cameras on two different poles. We get it man, there are cameras up there.

  • Look up for a blimp collecting 24/7 domestically not just for the National Tactical Integration Office.
    A light plane doing a repeating pattern over a city collecting all on phone use.

    Down the street see the FBI camera in a utility poles.
    Private and city CCTV working together to track every face and pattern of movement.
    Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response team looking over who is using transport between US cities.
    Faces of drivers and passengers getting collected down many of the main roads and al

  • They're easy to find (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 05, 2018 @07:48PM (#57597122)

    You don't need VR.

    The majority of people I see walking around have given most of their attention to a surveillance device.

    And a disturbing fraction of the drivers too.

  • VR - not enough (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    What's equally dangerous are the "invisible" ones that go behind the scenes.

    Google/Facebook/Twitter/Amazon/Instagram trackers on every website. Why are people using Googleapis everywhere?

    That's just at the surface. Companies such as Facebook gather user info from hotel/credit card rewards programs to gather more information about you, including birthdates, phone numbers, address and spending habits.

    You don't have control what these companies do with your data and who they partner up with.

    At this point, I wo

  • "Spy"? "Abuse"? (Score:2, Flamebait)

    by sabbede ( 2678435 )
    Cameras in public places aren't "spying", it's a public place patrolled by public safety officials (aka, cops). There is no expectation of privacy in a public space, so "monitoring" would be the more accurate and less inflammatory term.

    And that there are cameras does not mean they are being abused. Recognizing a camera is one thing, but you cannot look at it and make a justifiable claim that it is being abused. Unless maybe you see it in a bathroom.

    • Remember when body cameras were going to be the answer to police accountability and finally show once and for all how unjustified most police violence is? Well when that *didn't* happen and instead proved the opposite true body cameras became just another tool in the systems of oppression because it only shows the point of view of the police officer!
      • Okay... Now what does that have to do with what I said? And, "systems of oppression"? We aren't talking about China or North Korea, we're talking about a society whose laws are rooted in the preservation of liberty and protecting the rights of the individual from the state, not the other way around.
        • I was agreeing with you, the bit about systems of oppression was a joke
          • OH! I'm sorry, I read Slashdot in the morning and I'm not always awake enough to catch satire. Armed with my new understanding, that was pretty funny.

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