How rogue officers turned a nationwide camera network into a tool for stalking(www.washingtonpost.com)
28 pointsby baranul10 hours ago1 comment
  • SwellJoe7 hours ago
    Ah, yes, the "bad apple" theory of responsibility in a system built explicitly for abuse. It always works. Policing, surveillance, etc. is always for the common good and when it goes wrong, it's a "rogue officer", and not the system working as designed.

    Crazy how it keeps happening. Surely we'll be rid of all the bad apples someday?

    • inigyou6 hours ago
      One bad apple spoils the bunch.
    • cucumber37328427 hours ago
      It's way worse than that. Appealing to emotion "the cops might stalk you" is textbook useful idiot behavior because it implicitly makes the argument that if there were proper controls and/or transparency and/or accountability (whatever that means) this stuff would be ok.

      Everything the cops have gets abused to some extent. Of course surveillance dragnets are no exception. The real danger of these systems is what happens when it works as intended. These systems are bad on a fundamental level regardless of how well done the access controls are.