Devices on public buses in Maryland are listening to private conversations
Source: Washington Post
Devices on public buses in Maryland are listening to private conversations
By Ovetta Wiggins March 1 at 12:06 PM
@OvettaWashPost
The Maryland Senate on Tuesday delayed action on a bill that would clamp down on when public buses and trains can record the private conversations of their passengers.
....
“What [the Maryland Transit Administration] is doing is a mass surveillance,” {Sen. Robert A. Zirkin (D-Baltimore County), chair of the Senate Judicial Proceedings,} said. ... “I find it outrageous,” he said. “I don’t want to overstate it, but this is the issue of our generation. As technology advances, it becomes easier and easier to encroach on people’s civil liberties.”
While Zirkin and other proponents argue that the technology, which has been in use since 2012, is an infringement on civil liberties, the bill’s opponents say the recordings are a necessary tool for homeland security. ... The bill, which would affect MTA buses in the Baltimore area, Ride On buses in Montgomery County and TheBus in Prince George’s County, creates guidelines for audio recordings and places limits on when they can be made.
{On buses, cameras are watching and listening}
MTA began using recording devices inside some of its buses in 2012, without seeking legislative approval. Nearly 500 of its fleet of 750 buses now have audio recording capabilities. Officials say the devices can capture important information in cases of driver error or an attack or altercation on a bus.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/devices-on-public-buses-in-maryland-are-listening-to-private-conversations/2016/02/29/325e1d1e-df36-11e5-8d98-4b3d9215ade1_story.html
Hat tip, Jalopnik: Public Buses in Maryland Are Recording Their Passengers' Private Conversations
It's from Gawker. Sorry. I try not to link to Gawker stories.
= new reply since forum marked as read
got there first.
are you?
Hmmmmm?
