Related Update: Well, good!
The Illinois
Department of Transportation's attempt to keep information about its red
light camera program secret by locking an Excel spreadsheet has
backfired. The state's second-highest court last week ruled the move
violated the state's freedom of information laws and ordered the agency
pay an anti-camera activist $12,561 in compensation.
Original Post: The folks in Iowa City, Iowa appear to have had their fill of intrusive police monitoring. A report yesterday explains that lawmakers in Iowa City have taken the first steps towards a ban on drones, red lights cameras, and license plate readers. A spokesperson for one of the primary local advocates of the ban, Stop Big Brother, nails the situation directly on the head
with this excellent assessment:
"Surveillance technology, and in particular traffic surveillance
technology, is increasingly being pushed by technology vendors and
device manufacturers to municipalities across the country under the
banner of increased public safety," StopBigBrother.org writes on its
website. "At its core, though, traffic surveillance has little to do
with safety and everything to do with revenue. Worse yet, our liberties,
constitutional rights, and this country's founding principles all end
up being the collateral damage." [Emphasis Marc Street]
Standard political speak: tell us something is for our safety, etc. and use it as a smoke screen to empower themselves and those private entities playing the cronyism game. Disgusting.
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