spy truck This Isn’t a Google Streetview Car, It’s a Government Spy Truck

[Reefa]

Quote

The SUV in question. Notice the license plate readers mounted on the front roof.

 

An SUV tucked away in the shadows of the Philadelphia Convention Center’s tunnel bears the ubiquitous logo for Google Maps, and mounted on top of the vehicle are two high-powered license plate reader cameras. To the average passerby, it might appear to be a Google street view vehicle.

 

Others, such as Matt Blaze, a University of Pennsylvania computer and information science professor, saw it for what it truly was: a crudely disguised tool for surveillance. Blaze tweeted a photo of the vehicle with the appropriate opening: “WTF?”

 

Blaze’s baffled pronouncement is appropriate. Why would a government agency need to disguise a surveillance vehicle like this? And which agency believes it needs to do so?

 

Quote

The placard showing the vehicle is owned by the City of Philadelphia.

 

A placard on the dashboard indicates that the SUV is registered with the Philadelphia Office of Fleet Management, which maintains city government’s 6,316 vehicles, indicating that the vehicle is being used by a local agency.

 

Christopher Cocci, who serves as the city’s fleet manager, and whose signature is on the document, says that the vehicle does not belong to the Pennsylvania State Police, which is known to use automated license plate recognition (ALPR), or the Philadelphia Parking Authority, a local agency that also utilizes ALPR. So whose surveillance truck is it?

 

“All city vehicles such as police, fire, streets etc.…are registered to the city. Quasi [public] agencies like PPA, Housing Authority, PGW and School District are registered to their respective agencies,” fleet manager Christopher Cocci wrote in an email to Motherboard after reviewing photos of the vehicle. He also believes it to be connected to law enforcement activity.

 

Unless the Philadelphia Fire Department or Streets Department are using ALPR, this strongly suggests that the city’s police department is trawling city streets under the auspices of Google while snapping thousands of license plate images per minute. That’s very puzzling, because as of 2011, Philly police have been operating at least 10 mobile camera units and not hiding that fact.

 

The use of ALPR is controversial because of its ability to photograph thousands of license plate images per minute, and in doing so, warrantlessly track and store the average person’s travel habits. In Philly, the police can retain this data for a full year, even though the vast majority of residents are not under investigation. Plate information captured and subsequently used for investigations can be stored indefinitely, according to a department directive.

 

So why this subterfuge? Two spokespersons with the Philadelphia Police Department were not immediately available for comment.

 

“We can confirm that this is not a Google Maps car, and that we are currently looking into the matter,” Google spokesperson Susan Cadrecha wrote. When pressed, Cadrecha would not elaborate as to whether the company was concerned or angered that a local agency would be using a vehicle with powerful—and controversial—surveillance technology while masquerading as a street mapping car.

 

In a follow-up email, Cadrecha said: “We don't have any further comment at this time,” but indicated that the company might have more to say as their inquiry continues.

 

source

[OrbingStorm]

In the movie V for vendetta,the government cars drove around with listening devices pointed at houses to catch people talking about anti government things.In concept there is no barrier what can be done to monitor uncooperative citizens.

Bit by bit the frog will get used to a boiling pot.

[straycat19]

Interesting for a couple reasons.  First, Google mapping vehicles attract attention, something an undercover vehicle should not and would not do, and, Secondly, most dash cams on police vehicles now have the capability of reading and recording every license plate they see or they have a supplemental camera that reads and records license plates, so they would not need cameras on a vehicle like this.  Why anyone would create a vehicle that stands out like the one pictured as an 'undercover' anything dumbfounds me because I know that undercover vans used by Federal agencies look no different than a van your neighbor might own but have 360 degree high resolution cameras and the ability to listen to conversations at a great distance, not to mention all the other electronic systems that are present.  And their are no identifying tags, plates, or other information affixed to the vehicle that would identify the owner.  Matter of fact, the plates don't even have to be those normally associated with the city the vehicle is in since police (in states that have city or county identifying plates) can get plates that identify it as being from any city/county so that the vehicle may just look like it is visiting a neighbor, or touring an area, or even act as if they are lost tourists.  I also checked the article source, looking for more pictures, since I would like to see a picture of the vehicle taken from a distance to identify the surrounding area and a picture of the vehicle at a distance significant enough to show where the label pictured is located in/on the vehicle.  The photos provided prove absolutely nothing.  Having read articles from Motherboard, I am beginning to think they are the online version of the grocery store rags like National Enquirer.

[vibranium]

A strange vehicle indeed!

[Jogs]

The day isn't far when they might put a camera and a microphone in the toilet seat. 
 

[Reefa]

18 hours ago, straycat19 said:

most dash cams on police vehicles now have the capability of reading and recording every license plate they see or they have a supplemental camera that reads and records license plates, so they would not need cameras on a vehicle like this.

 

This was said in the article did you actually read it...

 

Quote

That’s very puzzling, because as of 2011, Philly police have been operating at least 10 mobile camera units and not hiding that fact.

 

---

 

Quote

The photos provided prove absolutely nothing.  Having read articles from Motherboard, I am beginning to think they are the online version of the grocery store rags like National Enquirer.

 

Nobody said it was proof where does it say fact it's speculation as a lot of news is..And there is nothing up with motherboard...

 

---

Quote

We can confirm that this is not a Google Maps car

 

That is the only confirmation in the article...

[pc71520]

23 hours ago, Jogs said:

The day isn't far when

they might put a camera and a microphone

in the toilet seat.
 

OR inside our...