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Politech is the oldest Internet resource devoted to politics and technology. Launched in 1994 by Declan McCullagh, the mailing list has chronicled the growing intersection of culture, technology, politics, and law. Since 2000, so has the Politech web site.
******** Photo surveillance for survey draws fire Jul. 8, 2001 05:20 ET http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/962435 [...] The American Civil Liberties Union is questioning the use of the cameras to record license plate numbers of motorists for the survey. "It's just one day. We set up cameras, then take them away," said Deborah Graham, state director of traffic planning. "We look at the tape and transcribe vehicle registration information." The car's owner is mailed a questionnaire designed to find out the purpose of the trip -- family reasons, shopping or work, for example. [...] ******** Date: Sun, 24 Jun 2001 23:14:56 -0400 To: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com> From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: GPS: Gotta Pay for Speeding GPS: Gotta Pay for Speeding James Turner is taking Big Brother to small claims court. Turner's taking his own car. Big Brother's driving a rental. A rental outfitted with a high-tech device that tracks your every move. One that records your speed. One that enables rental car agents to rip off unsuspecting drivers. Turner's really suing Acme Rent-A-Car on Whalley Avenue in New Haven for cozying up with Big Brother. He's trying to recoup a $450 charge for allegedly speeding on his way to Virginia in an Acme minivan. The van was equipped with a Global Positioning System, or GPS, which transmits data via satellite. It clocked him "going at speeds in excess of 90 mph on three separate occasions," according to court papers. The internal device did, but the cops didn't. http://www.newmassmedia.com/nac.phtml?code=new&db=nac_fea&ref=16435 ******** From: Sonia Arrison <sarrison@pacificresearch.org> To: "'declan@well.com'" <declan@well.com> Subject: Never rent with Acme rental cars! Date: Tue, 3 Jul 2001 14:50:46 -0700 They used a GPS to track a user's speed and then fine them according to the contract. Yikes! -Sonia http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2001-07-03-car-tracking.htm 07/03/2001 - Updated 10:39 AM ET GPS system used to fine driver for speeding HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - The state Department of Consumer Protection is investigating a complaint against a rental car company that used satellite technology to track a New Haven customer's alleged speeding. James Turner complained about Acme Rent-A-Car of New Haven for using his rented minivan's global positioning system to clock his speed. [...] ******** From: "GG" <mystic@jc.net> To: "Declan McCullagh" <declan@well.com> Cc: "Sean Hannity" <Hannity@FoxNews.com>, "G. Gordon Liddy" <gordonliddy@aol.com>, "Clark Sanders" <csanders@informatics.net>, "Bill O'Rielly" <oreilly@FoxNews.com> Subject: Motorists race to court to challenge red-light cameras Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2001 19:45:40 -0500 Photos called privacy threat By Valerie Alvord Special to USA TODAY SAN DIEGO -- The camera doesn't lie, or so they say. But attorney Arthur Tait and more than 300 clients have gone to court to prove that, at least in California, cameras can lie. Their cases are drawing attention to law enforcement's war against drivers who run red lights. Every day, cameras catch thousands of people in 60 jurisdictions across the USA as they speed through red lights. In San Diego alone, more than 60,000 traffic tickets are issued each year from the cameras at 19 intersections. Studies consistently show wide public support across the USA for camera enforcement at intersections. Running traffic lights, police point out, is extremely dangerous. Lockheed Martin IMS owns and operates 80% of red-light cameras across the country. And there's a waiting list of communities asking for cameras to be installed because demand for them is high. [...] http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20010706/3462035s.htm ******** From: rms@privacyfoundation.org (Richard M. Smith) To: "'Declan McCullagh'" <declan@well.com> Cc: <Richard.Diamond@mail.house.gov> Subject: RE: Lockheed gets $70 for each red light ticket in San Diego Date: Sat, 7 Jul 2001 13:31:12 -0400 Hi, A few more data points about this story. First off, the Washington, DC police department seems to have cut a much better deal with Lockheed than San Diego. Lockheed only gets $30 per red-light ticket in DC vs. $70 in San Diego. The DC number came from this editorial: Red-light cameras ripe for misuse http://www.reporternews.com/2000/opinion/red0616.html Second, the DC red-light camera system received a public-private partnership award in 2000 according to this Lockheed press release: District's Photo Enforcement Program Receives National Public-Private Partnership Award Lockheed Martin IMS honored for dramatically reducing red-light running. http://www.lmims.com/news/10_26_00.html Finally, Lockheed seems to be playing fast and loose with some of their statistics: http://www.lmims.com/prodserv/ms.html Photo Enforcement "Motor vehicle accidents caused by drivers who run red lights, speed or race the train kill tens of thousands of American motorists each year" Obviously running a red light or train crossing is a serious safety problem, but the insurance industry puts the death rate below a 1,000 people per year according to other press accounts. Richard ********* Date: Sat, 07 Jul 2001 16:03:32 -0700 To: declan@well.com, politech@politechbot.com From: David Honig <honig@sprynet.com> Subject: Re: FC: Lockheed gets $70 for each red light ticket in San Diego Cc: rms@privacyfoundation.org, Richard.Diamond@mail.house.gov In-Reply-To: <5.0.2.1.0.20010707121636.02177980@mail.well.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" X-UIDL: fb4eb73e613bd3a037b6820b6abdf20d At 12:25 PM 7/7/01 -0400, Declan McCullagh wrote: >More coverage: >Subject: Lockheed gets a piece of the action with the San Diego red-light >cameras > >City governments hire private firms all of the time >to help provide city services. However, the idea of >that a private company gets a percentage of traffic fines >seems quite wrong headed to me. > > "Lockheed gets $70 for every $271 fine generated by a red-light > ticket in San Diego, according to testimony yesterday." > (*Not* personally in their defense) The Lockheeds etc. that provide these systems do so for *free* to the cities in return for a fraction of the *take*. Although a fantastic biz model, it *does* bias the motivations the wrong way. Piece of the action, indeed. ********* ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------