The Evolution and Growth of the Domestic Surveillance Grid

The Washington Post has published a lengthy and comprehensive article about the U.S.’s domestic spy grid that’s worth reading in its entirety. Here’s a telling remark from the introduction, something we’ve been observing at “Government Against the People” since the blog’s inception:  “Technologies and techniques honed for use on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan [...]

Read Full Post »

Houston Ignores Referendum on Shutting Down Traffic Cameras

Who cares about the will of the people when revenue for the government is involved? Officials in Houston, Texas are in the stage of denial regarding the public vote to ban the use of red light cameras. Despite losing by six percentage points, Mayor Annise D. Parker is not ready to shut down the program. [...]

Read Full Post »

Camera Checks for Insurance, Tax Compliance, and More

Just another incremental step in the tightening of the noose. People may complain for a while, but eventually this latest outrage will recede into the background. When’s the last time you heard anyone talk about warrantless wiretapping? It’s just an accepted part of our reality now. Even the most law-abiding driver might feel a shiver [...]

Read Full Post »

Mass Defiance Leads to Takedown of Arizona Cameras

There are two things to learn from the experience of Arizona. If enough people ignore a law, it will go away. And a ticket received by unregistered and uncertified mail may be thrown in the trash with no consequences. A ticket has no authority or standing if it is not properly served. PHOENIX — Dozens [...]

Read Full Post »

Ten Ways We’re Being Tracked, Traced, and Databased

Smile. You’re being watched. The war on terror is a worldwide endeavor that has spurred massive investment into the global surveillance industry – which now seems to be becoming a war on “liberty and privacy.”  Given all of the new monitoring technology being implemented, the uproar over warrantless wiretaps now seems moot.  High-tech, first-world countries  [...]

Read Full Post »

People in Arizona Fight Back against Traffic Cameras

Push the people too hard and too far and they’ll fight back. Reporting from Phoenix – Arizonans drive long distances on their highways, and they like to do it fast. But since the Grand Canyon State began enforcing speed limits with roadside cameras, motorists are raging against the machines: They have blocked out the lenses [...]

Read Full Post »

Calif. Sobriety Checkpoints Are Becoming Profit Centers

You thought the red light camera racket was bad? What do you think about governments profiting from roadside checkpoints? Sobriety checkpoints in California are increasingly turning into profitable operations for local police departments—operations that are far more likely to seize cars from unlicensed motorists than catch drunk drivers. An investigation by the Investigative Reporting Program [...]

Read Full Post »

Chicagoans Protest Red Light Cameras

Chicagoans tend to be pretty cynical about government, so they aren’t buying the explanation that the cameras are intended for safety. The cameras are all about shaking down the public and the public knows it. It’s the kind of red that’s not welcome on Valentine’s Day. Drivers fed up with those ever-present red-light cameras took [...]

Read Full Post »

Opposition Mounts in Arizona against Traffic Cameras

The governor is considering letting the contract expire and putting the question to a referendum, but some legislators are clinging to the fanciful notion that cameras are meant to increase safety, not boost revenue. Photo-enforcement cameras may not last through the summer on Arizona’s highways, given recent activity at the state Capitol to shut down [...]

Read Full Post »

Ontario Cops Introduce License Plate Readers

This news outlet ran a straight press release about the new license plate scanning that makes the whole arrangement sound just dandy. If you’ve done nothing wrong, you have nothing to worry about. Right? Today, January 21, 2010, the Ontario Provincial Police North East Region introduced its Automatic Licence Plate Recognition Project patrol vehicle – [...]

Read Full Post »