Are Cops Scanning DU to Assign You a “Threat Rating”??

[99th_Monkey]

Last edited Wed Dec 17, 2014, 06:17 PM - Edit history (2)

I'm not very familiar with this website, so not sure of article's veracity; but
I did immediately think of all the opinions i post on DU getting fed into some
police database. Not to be paranoid or anything, but it does give me some
pause.

It's like we are being conditioned to censor ourselves, for fear of getting pegged
as a "cop-hater" and a week later seeing flashing blue & red in my rearview mirror.

ON EDIT: Here's another article in Reuters, a source I DO trust: http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2014/12/12/police-data-mining-looks-through-social-media-assigns-you-a-threat-level/

Cops Are Scanning Social Media to Assign You a “Threat Rating”
By Matt Agorist * December 16, 2014 * Free Thought Project

Online activity, purchases, and “comments that could be construed as offensive,” all contribute to your threat score.



Police State, USA — Imagine the following scenario: You are on your way home from work, driving down the road, when you notice police lights in your rear view mirror. You are being pulled over.

As you sit their, on the shoulder, adrenaline rushing, simultaneously angry and nervous, the police officer, in his patrol car behind you, is sizing you up based on an algorithm that determines your “threat rating.”

The officer enters your license plate into a mobile application on his laptop. In a matter of seconds, this application crawls over billions of records in commercial and public databases, including all available social media engagement, recent purchases and “any comments that could be construed as offensive.” The application then determines if your “threat rating” is green, yellow, or red.

Imagine that you are one of our informed and frequent readers and understand the importance of police accountability and are unafraid to voice your completely peaceful, yet strong opinion about police misconduct. Imagine that you left a comment on facebook this morning about a particular officer’s misconduct; imagine that it is this particular officer who just pulled you over.

Your rating just came back red. Up until this point, you have never committed a crime, you have never been violent, you have never even so much as run a stop sign. However, this police officer now knows that you made a comment about him punching the (insert handcuffed and helpless victim example here) on facebook, and he literally sees red (your threat rating).


Read more at http://thefreethoughtproject.com/cops-scanning-social-media-assign-threat-rating/#Su1dQkxR9uqYZPXx.99

[Agschmid]

1. Doubtful.

[840high]

59. Yep.

[JoePhilly]

2. Well ...

... there is a black van outside the cafe I'm in ... and I keep hearing Helicopters.

[99th_Monkey]

7. I'd love to just "laugh it off" i.e. ignore killer-cops phenomenon

but have a qweezy feeling in my gut, telling me to pay very close attention
to the killer-cops phenomenon that keeps morphing with each new, ever
more brutal callus disrespectful incident where a cop murders an unarmed
citizen, so they get their PAID vacation, a book deal or two, and rake in $$$
off the internet with Kickstarter for legal fees and a new house or two.

I can't see this going anywhere good. But maybe this article is bunk .. I
don't know much about this site, as I said in the OP

[HappyMe]

3. I don't think so.

[Hekate]

4. Relax. DU suborned Agent Mike with fresh donuts long ago

it's all good.

Now sleeeeep.

[Jackpine Radical]

6. Donut…

sleepy…

good…

*conk*

[99th_Monkey]

9. please see

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025973429#post7

[longship]

27. For Christ sakes, Agent Mike only eats doughnuts. No donuts, or (horrors) donnets.

And it is, indeed, all good. But only with doughnuts.

[Hekate]

56. I blush to have committed a spelling faux pas like that, especially as I am one who still upholds...

...irregular verbs. I may be the only one who has noticed their disappearance from the newspapers. >sigh<

[Glassunion]

5. *In the officer's head* - Boy this guy sure looks at a lot of porn... Don't shake his hand...

[99th_Monkey]

11. Pleae see

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025973429#post7

[Glassunion]

37. Trust me, when I get pulled over my browsing habits would be the least of my problems.

But hey, most of my habits might get the cop into a better mood.

Let's see:
He did a search for Stock Pots and looked at those for about 10 minutes at a restaurant supply.
He then left the site without buying anything, but clicked on a janitorial supply link
He bought a box of latex gloves and a parring knife... WTF?
He then checked his email
He followed a link from his email to a motorcycle supply store
He then proceeded to look at about 500 different expensive jackets and boots
After about 3 hours of looking at $800 jackets, he finally bought a pair of $12 goggles
He followed a link on the supply site to an article about motorcyclists behaving badly
He followed a link to YouTube where he searched for motorcyclists behaving badly
He watched 1 video of motor cyclist behaving badly
He then clicked on a related Russian Dashcam compilation
He watched that then clicked on a related video of "motorcycle fails 2014"
He watched two of those, where he then clicked on a related "best fails of 2014"
He then clicked on a related video of a cat trying to climb a Christmas tree but failing
He then clicked on a related video of Cats vs. Christmas Trees
He then clicked on a related video of animals making funny noises
He then clicked on a related video of goats screaming like humans (he watched it 7 times)


Cop may be in a better mood by the time he gets to my window, but then has to realize that I'm black and humming the "Please don't shoot me" song to myself.

[RiverLover]

48. I don't know about a cop, but you got me laughing! Thanks!

[Dont call me Shirley]

53. ...

http://m.

[Scuba]

8. Well, duh.

[99th_Monkey]

10. So you're not laughing with the clowns up string? nt

[Scuba]

14. Oh, sure, I can still laugh.

[Hekate]

57. Haven't you ever whistled past the graveyard? nt

[obxhead]

12. The police?

Doubtful, they simply don't have the resources to create and then utilize that kind or amount of data.

Now, the FBI or the NSA? Oh yeah, they have the room, resources, and mission to do so. It is likely that your posts are being watched by a computer some where.

[99th_Monkey]

17. Well according to Rueters: " Cops scan social media to help assess your ‘threat rating’"

Cops scan social media to help assess your ‘threat rating’

http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2014/12/12/police-data-mining-looks-through-social-media-assigns-you-a-threat-level/

http://www.predpol.com/?gclid=Cj0KEQiAwaqkBRDHx6rzxMqAobgBEiQAxJazJx7B_mtSxztpgisqaivxvTWvpplgwWLYFPaJD2zlvXYaAkmO8P8HAQ

[NCTraveler]

23. Read the Rueters article.

Not much there is a surprise. According to it, some cops have software that allows them to pull up public information in route to a call or while on location. Clearly information is important to them. When closing in on a suspect there is nothing wrong with knowing more about them.

That being said, I think your concerns are real. These systems could be designed to scour the Internet and assess an individual a "threat #." They really wouldn't need more technology than is currently available. If that information is being used before a crime has been committed we have a serious problem. Once again, this would have to be done with a computer. Law enforcement doesn't have close to the manpower needed. Your concerns are valid. They like to cross constitutional lines and then let it go through the courts.

[99th_Monkey]

25. "Predictive Policing"

This link was embedded in that Reuters article as well.
http://www.predpol.com/?gclid=Cj0KEQiAwaqkBRDHx6rzxMqAobgBEiQAxJazJx7B_mtSxztpgisqaivxvTWvpplgwWLYFPaJD2zlvXYaAkmO8P8HAQ

This is clearly something already in place and is being used now.

[NCTraveler]

26. I am not opposed to predictive policing.

It has been done in some form for a long long time. Well before computers. Many people truly appreciate predictive policing, myself included. Predictive policing is in place. What is on the Internet will never overcome understanding crime statistics when it comes to predictive policing. My problem would be if cops were punching in plate numbers and then is given the "threat #" of the driver. That is not predictive policing. Actual predictive policing has been around for ages. It is nothing new. Not even the term.

I do think there are serious concerns with how cops use information. Not negating that.

[RiverLover]

47. OK, now you're just trying to get a "Green" rating. See how you are?! ;-) nt

[obxhead]

38. Targeted people.

You pop up on the radar for something, they may have the resources to start a search on your online activity.

Does the local PD have a room full of servers, slaving away data mining the net for post activity of local citizens without a specific target in mind, just for collection purposes? Highly unlikely. That takes a huge amount of resources, with little to no yield.

Now the Fed policing structure does have that manpower, resources, and ideology to do such a thing, and does. Little brother may want the info, but they just can't afford it, unless you become an active investigation.

[99th_Monkey]

39. This Reuters article is about local police forces, not the Feds.

Cops scan social media to help assess your ‘threat rating’
http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2014/12/12/police-data-mining-looks-through-social-media-assigns-you-a-threat-level/

Activities of local cops and federal enforcement & surveillance agencies frequently hugely overlap and absolutely share access to information, military hardware, etc.

Oh and check out this private company, "The Predictive Policing Company ®"
http://www.predpol.com/?gclid=Cj0KEQiAwaqkBRDHx6rzxMqAobgBEiQAxJazJx7B_mtSxztpgisqaivxvTWvpplgwWLYFPaJD2zlvXYaAkmO8P8HAQ

[Hekate]

13. So are you going to delete your DU account and disappear from the Internet?

We all kind of dealt with that during the actual BushCheney years, and most of us are still around.

[99th_Monkey]

18. Probably not

I was around during BushCo Daze as well.

[bemildred]

15. I assume they do, but I don't really give a shit. nt

[951-Riverside]

16. Good grief. We're turning into the soviet union. n/t

[NCTraveler]

19. There. Not their.nt

[hifiguy]

20. I would not be one bit surprised if

the kkkops are doing this. I trust them no farther than I can throw a car.

[Iggo]

21. .

:middlefinger:

[CJCRANE]

22. They probably mean FB and Twitter

where people use their real name.

However, I'm sure there's a supercomputer in an undisclosed location analyzing everything on the internet for some other purpose.

We're probably pretty low on the list after the sovereign citizens, hackers, pirates and religious fundies of various persuasions.

[Feral Child]

29. Except

they mostly like those guys. OK, not hackers or pirates, but cops, average IQ 108, aren't likely to be able to track them online.
But Fundies, 'Baggers, militia; they're the bulk of the Oath Keeper movement, good solid citizens that hate minorities and gays as much as the cops do.

Nope, it's the Lefties, the "Socalists", and the Commies they want to hunt down.

(Yeah, I'm exaggerating, but not that much.)

[99th_Monkey]

34. You may be right about one thing

FB and Twitter are probably more likely to be scanned, more than DU is.

[Taitertots]

24. Why do you think the government built a massive data collection center in Utah

They are saving and scanning so much more than you could ever imagine.

[leftofcool]

28. I don't give a shit if they are.

I'm an old woman in remission. Come and find me.

[Feral Child]

30. Same here, loc.

2 heart attacks, and cancer-survivor.

They'd be doing me a favor, shortening the wait.

Oh, wait, not a woman, though. Oldguy.

[99th_Monkey]

35. I'm pretty much in a similar boat

in that I'm obviously still posting on DU, come what may.

[KingCharlemagne]

31. Since 2001, I've always operated as though I was being spied upon, so I don't

think this article will cause me to alter my behavior in any material respect. And, since I've reluctantly concluded that even the most routine traffic stop could lead, through no fault of my own, to my death from some trigger-happy cop, this article also won't alter my mindset much either.

I will say this: I've had a couple really bizarre things happen in the employment sector -- a job offered and then withdrawn at the last possible moment on the flimsiest of pretexts, another job requiring a security clearance that I made it through a 2nd round of interviews for and then heard only dead silence thereafter -- that I'm reasonably sure that all left-wing activists are being routinely spied upon and harassed, even if those activists don't know it or only suspect it.

[Throd]

32. No.

[giftedgirl77]

33. Meh, considering I'm a "minority race" in this country

I'm considered high risk to them anyways so they can go fuck themselves wherever they are.

[bobGandolf]

36. Wow, just read the Reuters article.

Talk about getting a knot in your stomach. That whole concept is frightening, and there are a lot of openings for abuse to occur.

[99th_Monkey]

40. Thank you for reading the whole Reuters article

I didn't find it until I had already posted the FTP article as the OP.

Did you see this embedded link to "PREDPOL - The Predictive Policing Company ®"
http://www.predpol.com/?gclid=Cj0KEQiAwaqkBRDHx6rzxMqAobgBEiQAxJazJx7B_mtSxztpgisqaivxvTWvpplgwWLYFPaJD2zlvXYaAkmO8P8HAQ

Very creepy if you ask me.

[bobGandolf]

63. The whole thing was creepy.

No, I did not see that one. I went into a few, and they were just as bad as the main article.
Even after reading "PREDPOL" I still can't figure out how it predicts where it's most likely to occur.

[Kalidurga]

41. I would be code red

which is really silly since becoming disabled I wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight and I don't believe in packing heat. However, I don't have anything nice to say about our police state or the jack booted thugs that took great joy in breaking up OWS.

[ManiacJoe]

42. On any social networking site that I might write messages

which might get me into such situations, I am certainly not going to be using any identifiable data that can point back to me in the Real World. DU is a great example of anonymous posting.

[MADem]

43. This isn't "social media." It's a discussion board where most posters are anonymous.

Only a few put their names out there. And the IP addresses of the contributors can't be had without asking the admins here.

So, no, I don't think anyone here is being targeted--unless your first name is 99th and your last name is actually Monkey.

[lonestarnot]

44. And what's his name isn't giv'n it up w/o a warrant.

[MADem]

45. Yep! nt

[pinboy3niner]

50. Inetyay inthnay onkeymay ashay ay anplay, ahay ahay!

[Jesus Malverde]

46. Of course they are. What else would the fusion centers be doing.

They even send cops to minor peace protest planning in someones living room.

Half the militia movement are either cops or informants. Even the head of Elohim city the rats nest that sheltered Timothy McVeigh was an informant.

POLICING FREE SPEECH:
Police Surveillance and Obstruction of First Amendment‐ Protected Activity
https://www.aclu.org/files/assets/policingfreespeech_20100806.pdf

Some of the most provocative posters are likely in the mix.

[99th_Monkey]

61. thank you

I wish more people were as aware as you are ... most here seem oblivious
to the fact that local police and NSA, FBI, CIA et. al. all have skin in the
game, and totally share information every which way.

[petronius]

49. This sounds like the kind of thing that is frequently advocated in the aftermath of

an Elliot Rodger or a James Holmes. The creepiness and intrusiveness is certainly more obvious outside the context of a recent horrific crime...

[Jesus Malverde]

51. The government is profiling you

http://video.mit.edu/watch/the-government-is-profiling-you-13260/

[Skittles]

52. I wonder if I would be profiled as a high probability of attempting to kick ass

[Socal31]

54. The enormous shiny new data center in Utah isn't for mahjong.

[Sneak the freak]

55. Ha

It's all web sites. Nothing special about this one. Lol!

[a la izquierda]

58. You should read what I reasearch and teach for a living...

Of course they're monitoring me.

[sir pball]

60. If they scan DU, I won't even raise a flag. If they scan all social media...they'll either leave me

...or come after me with a full on armed fire team

Though, the former is most likely seeing how they handled the Bundy crew. I agree with absolutely nothing they represent, but I make no excuses for being as well...equipped as they are.

[nilesobek]

62. I hope I get a really high rating.

I'm an existential threat to everything they love and care about. As long as I live I am their enemy. The torturing murderers should shiver in fear at my very presence here. And, because I have all the intangibles, I actually can do something about them.