NYPD faces backlash as it prepares to encrypt radio communications | New York | The Guardian - eviltoast
  • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    8
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    10 months ago

    It seems insane that they were communicating out in the open.

    On the one hand, you probably hear all kinds of cool shit. On the other hand, how in the fuck are they just discussing all their sensitive shit out in the open??

    • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      10 months ago

      They don’t? I mean, you can listen to them, they are not discussing sensitive shit because it’s public.

      • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        10 months ago

        So what do they use to do that? Or is it that they can’t because they don’t have a secure channel?

          • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            3
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            10 months ago

            Jesus. I can’t believe they haven’t encrypted sooner. “We have a situation here, wait let me call you.”

            • KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              3
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              10 months ago

              Why would the situation need to be kept private? “We have a jumper at this and this street”, “shots fired on scene”, “I ate a burrito.”

              I’m honestly curious, what vitally secret info do you think needs to be communicated over radio? They aren’t for conversations.

              • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                7
                arrow-down
                3
                ·
                edit-2
                10 months ago

                To keep the private info of the people involved actually private. License plates, descriptions, home addresses, personally identifiable info. It seems mad that all of that is just broadcasted out to everyone. Probably wouldn’t even be legal where I live because of privacy concerns.

                • KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  3
                  arrow-down
                  1
                  ·
                  10 months ago

                  License plates are not private, they literally sit out in public all day. Descriptions are, again, not private. Even your license info is public.

                  Not to mention, police reports are info that can be requested with a FOIA request. So all that info is public anyway, even if it was originally private.

                  • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
                    link
                    fedilink
                    English
                    arrow-up
                    3
                    arrow-down
                    1
                    ·
                    10 months ago

                    Would you be willing to share your license plate number here?

                    License plate, connected to description and description of the situation, medical stuff etc. would obviously be something I wouldn’t want broadcasted to just anyone. I don’t know how Americans are comfortable with that.

                    Or well, probably aren’t since they’re finally getting around to encrypting that stuff. It’s wild that it wasn’t done before.

              • A_dude@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                2
                arrow-down
                1
                ·
                10 months ago

                I mean… Let’s just take your example of “we have a jumper at x and y street”. Is it really a good idea to have everyone know that? Do we want “journalists” to drive over their and take pictures of people in crisis (possibly worsening it).

                Or let’s imagine a car chase, do we really want criminals to know that a spikestrip is set up 2 streets ahead?

                Do we want information like warrant and licence checks to be held over unencrypted radio transmitions. Allowing everyone who wants to to listen in and learn about people’s criminal histories?

                Just to add, I am aware that the whole idea of privacy isn’t really a thing in the US, the names and mugshots of arrested people are literally made public in some (all?) states, so you probably don’t care about the last point, but the rest still stand, and in lots of countries everyone’s privacy is considered a right, including that of (suspected) criminals.

                • KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  2
                  ·
                  edit-2
                  10 months ago

                  Is it really a good idea to have everyone know that?

                  It really doesn’t hurt.

                  Do we want “journalists” to drive over their and take pictures of people in crisis (possibly worsening it).

                  How is a journalist any different than a dozen randos posting it to TikTok? At least the journalist would be more likely to report facts instead of “#justdoit”.

                  Or let’s imagine a car chase, do we really want criminals to know that a spikestrip is set up 2 streets ahead?

                  his isn’t usually a concern. Spike strips are set up pretty much only when the criminal has no other option. They aren’t done in a residential area where there are many side streets and turns, because it’s like trying to herd cats.

                  Most of the time in a chase, it’s info the criminal is already going to know. Where they are, what they are doing, etc. the cops don’t normally detail their plans on the radio, just communicate info.

                  Do we want information like warrant and licence checks to be held over unencrypted radio transmitions. Allowing everyone who wants to to listen in and learn about people’s criminal histories?

                  This info is already public. You can literally just look it up on government sites. You can do that in many different countries, in fact. And I’d say that’s a good thing, actually. Why should we keep criminal activity private? How do we keep both citizens and government accountable if we aren’t open about what was done and the punishment received. Otherwise you can have people just disappear from the street into a jail cell, and the public have no way of ever knowing.

        • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          10 months ago

          Communicate private health information? A lot of times they still use fax machines. Information can also be stored in a secured database where access is recorded and monitored. If needed, they can always pick up the phone and talk directly with a person if you need something. HIPAA is fairly specific about this.

          An encrypted two-way radio, where only the two parties requiring the information would be on the call, that might be fine as long as you’re careful to make sure someone standing nearby can’t overhear. But that’s not what NYC is building.