surveillance

We all know what Godwin’s law is…leftists usually are the first to break it, but now it is thought there is a new Godwin’s law.

Samuel Johnson once said that “patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” Patriotism, and bad analogies.

For the uninitiated, Godwin’s Law is one of the cardinal rules of the Internet. Coined in 1990 by Internet law expert Mike Godwin, the principle — confirmed by countless contentious comment threads across the web — is that the longer an online discussion persists, the greater the odds become that someone will make a comparison to Nazis or Adolf Hitler, to the point of near-inevitability. Nothing ends a debate faster than the hyperbolic unsupported counterfactual: “You know who else did [INSERT SUBJECT OF ARGUMENT HERE]? Hitler!”

We get this all the time…usually from teachers unions…they used it against Anne Tolley and are yet to deploy it against Hekia Parata…only a matter of time though.

But Hitler and the Nazis aren’t the only recurring straw men used to end debates. Over the past 12 years, it’s become clear that the longer a national security debate persists, the more likely it becomes that someone will try to end it by suggesting something — some policy, some person, some technology — “could have prevented 9/11.”  Read more »

Since he seems so keen on having the police seize emails perhaps they might like to ask Russel Norman to provide emails between the Green party and Jolyon White.

That crime remains un-charged, un-investigated…perhaps a sift through their emails might be useful to help the investigation.

There are still more than 30 electoral crimes before the Police and as yet not a single person charged.  Read more »

Cry Baby of the Day: Rose Black

Cry baby: Rose Black

The incident: The police now have Automatic Number Plate Recognition systems being deployed in vehicles. Some people think that they will cause a disproportionate victimisation of poor people.

A new, hi-tech licence plate recognition system is copping flack from welfare groups who claim it could have a negative impact on the poor.

Police believe the all-new Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system is the key to identifying vehicles that are a potential hazard on the roads, and have been trialling the devices since late last year.

The ANPR – which sits on top of a patrol car – scans and records number plates of passing vehicles, instantly matching them to a police database.

If a vehicle is wanted for any reason – stolen vehicles, disqualified drivers, expired registration and wanted persons – a waiting patrol vehicle gives chase.

ANPR – which is capable of scanning up to 3000 number plates an hour – is an extension of the traditional process in which an officer would have to call a radio dispatcher to access information in the police database.  Read more »

Everyone is in race for drone technology…some of the developments are astonishing.

Controlling drones is still labour intensive…but not anymore.

For those who dream of force multiplication—military tacticians and nerdy loners alike—not much beats having a drone. Unless it’s having a whole fleet of coordinated drones. That vision has now come a little closer to reality.

A startup called DreamHammer last week announced that it was rolling out a beta version of software that would allow for the coordinated control of multiple drones. Those drones wouldn’t have to all be in the air, either—some could be unmanned aerial vehicles, some could be wheeled rovers, some could be watercraft, or submarines. In theory, a single person wielding an iPad could carry out a personal robo-D-Day.  Read more »

The Saudi government is now rolling out full electronic surveillance of women where the system sends a txt message to the husband if a woman tries to leave the country. This is seriously creepy.

The husband, who was travelling with his wife, received a text message from the immigration authorities informing him that his wife had left the international airport in Riyadh.

“The authorities are using technology to monitor women,” said columnist Badriya al-Bishr, who criticised the “state of slavery under which women are held” in the ultra-conservative kingdom.

Women are not allowed to leave the kingdom without permission from their male guardian, who must give his consent by signing what is known as the “yellow sheet” at the airport or border.

The move by the Saudi authorities was swiftly condemned on social network Twitter — a rare bubble of freedom for millions in the kingdom — with critics mocking the decision.

“Hello Taliban, herewith some tips from the Saudi e-government!” read one post.

“Why don’t you cuff your women with tracking ankle bracelets too?” wrote Israa.

While we are bashing away at the failures, fumbles and inadequacies of NZ politicians, the world media seems to have got the hots for John Key and New Zealand.

Latest to fall for his charms is SLATE, the leftish but influential website.   They are not all wrong though.

Most governments are unwilling to own up to unlawful surveillance. But not in New Zealand. The country’s prime minister this week admitted that one of its spy agencies illegally intercepted Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom’s communications for a full month—prompting an inquiry into how it was allowed to happen.

…

In response to the revelation, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has apologized to Dotcom. Key has also ordered the GCSB to review all cases dating back to 2009. That Key has apologised is commendable, as is his handling of the illegal spying generally. There are few governments in the world willing to candidly publicly acknowledge wrongdoing by their intelligence agencies, especially when it comes to high profile cases. When authorities commit wrongdoing the tendency is often to keep it under wraps in a self-interested bid to protect reputations. In this case, despite knowing it would cause controversy and a storm of negative reaction, N.Z.’s government chose disclosure over secrecy. A rare example of transparency more countries could do well to follow.

ᔥ NZ Herald

The Police Association has renewed its calls for “guns on hips” after a rifle was allegedly aimed at a female officer in the Bay of Plenty early yesterday morning.

The officer had been responding to a report of suspicious activity in Katikati when she spotted a man near an intersection, police said.

When she stopped to speak to him, he dropped bags he was carrying and is alleged to have swung a rifle toward her.

The officer left immediately and called for back up, before armed offenders squad members were deployed in the area.

A 20-year-old man was arrested and yesterday appeared in Tauranga District Court on charges including burglary and using a firearm against a law enforcement officer.

I have no problem with arming the Police, but if the Police are to be armed then I also believe that suitably trained citizens should also be allowed to similarly armed. After all if you start arming state authorities with out similar rights passing to citizens then you run the very real risk fo the citizenry being able to be suppressed through fear and intimidation buy those same authorities.

A second point would also be that criminals already have and use firearms and the Police simply can;t be everywhere, thereby leaving unarmed citizens at risk. If the risk is great for the police then surely the risk is greater for citizens.

I am not saying that we should be allowed tio willy-nilly carry firearms…I am saying the with training and certification and appropriate club membership then this should be allowed.

ᔥ The Telegraph

A rooting Austrian politician is in line to get nearly $32,000 in compensation after a hidden camera used for snapping wildlife photographed him doing the wild thing in a forest:

The politician, who has not been named, will get the money if a court rules the photographs violated his privacy.

Carefully concealed, placed well away from areas frequented by people and packing motion sensors the camera was designed to record the wildlife of the forest in the Austrian region of Carinthia but instead caught the politician’s physical liaison.

Legal experts said the camera contravenes Austrian laws restricting the use of surveillance cameras. Hans Zeger, president of Argen Daten, an NGO specialising in data protection, said official permission was needed to place the camera, and “at the very least is should have been marked with signs so visitors could adjust their behaviour and avoid the monitored areas.” But the Carinthia Hunting Society, the organisation which placed the camera, defended the use of the spying equipment.

“I cannot say for sure how many cameras are in operation in forests in Carinthia as they do not have to be registered to us,” said Freydis Burgstaller-Gredenegger, the society’s manager. “We have never had any problems with the cameras up until now.” She added that the cameras were generally used to record animal feeding patterns.

So far the politician’s blushes have been spared by the society decision to keep both the photographs and his name secret.

Judith Collins talks about an article in The New Republic about crime in New York:

This is worth reading. The New York experience is mirrored in New Zealand over the last 3 years. Policing turned around and the crime rate has dropped to 1982 levels. The prison population, despite our increased penalties for violent, recidivist offenders, has fallen. South Auckland, which was known as “the mean streets” by the media, has turned around. It’s not because of the Lefties, it’s because of the Police and the fact that they stopped having to apologise for doing their jobs. Prevention First in Policing and Policing Excellence are making a lasting difference to many families and communities.

Now that Judith has fixed the Police perhaps she might like to undo the liberal damage in the Courts system.

I need to stop making a habit of agreeing with John Pagani, but he keeps on saying sensible things. This time on the Urewera issue and the Search and Surveillance Bill:

I’ve filed a longer piece elsewhere on this, but it’s worth a mention because of the deafening silence among other left blogs today:

Members of the “Urewera 18″ group threw Molotov cocktail fire bombs and fired semi-automatic weapons at training camps in the bush, court documents show.

This news demolishes the comfortable, smug analysis of Urewera that said the cops over-reacted and that the local cop could have just wandered up the hill and told them all to calm down.

No wonder they didn’t want the evidence to come out.

There is a twisted far-left narrative that goes: The cops needed to confect a conspiracy because they were so excited about a war on terror! Having a Terrorism Act they had to find some terrorists! They made it up!.

Anyone repeating this claim now discredits themselves.

Molotov cocktails and semi-authomatic [sic] weapons require lengthy and detailed explanations from the accused (and now acquitted) long before they require explanations from the police.

Yes, there is a right to silence in criminal law. But we are talking not about criminal sanction.

These people have demanded the moral high ground, and demanded the support of the left. Far to many gifted it too cheaply.

I now have a new found respect for John Pagani.