Big Brother Is Watching You

In the past, we just brushed it off, yeah but... it controls speeders! People don't really are about what "Red Light" cameras. "Speed" cameras, "License Plate" reader cameras. and "Doorbell" cameras we are not really interested in those cameras but now with Trump in the White House people are now having second thoughts. But first the Real ID Act kicks in shortly...

From driver's license to digital dossier? Why some are worried about REAL ID.

USA Today

By Nathan Diller

May 3, 2025

Key Points

• Privacy advocates express concerns about potential data sharing and tracking across states.
• Opponents argue REAL ID creates a de facto national identification system, increasing vulnerability to data breaches and government surveillance.
• TSA maintains that REAL ID sets minimum security standards, not a national ID, with states retaining control over their individual databases.

The REAL ID enforcement deadline will take effect in less than a week, following years of delays.

Adults will need a compliant driver’s license or ID to board a commercial domestic flight and enter certain other facilities on May 7 – though travelers can continue to use accepted alternatives like a passport.

The roughly 20-year path to implementation stemming from the 2005 REAL ID Act has been bumpy, marked at times by resistance from states tasked with issuing the documentation. Even after the law was passed, more than a dozen states opposed REAL ID, saying it came with high administration costs and would pose privacy threats. Advocacy groups have raised similar concerns.

Now couple that with "Red Light" cameras. "Speed" cameras, "License Plate" reader cameras. and "Doorbell" cameras and people are starting to get a little nervous. Especially with fascist Trump, will he turn us into a police state?

The website "Police1" writes this about the cameras...

Myths and misunderstandings about speed enforcement cameras

With traffic fatalities on the rise, the need for effective traffic safety solutions is urgent

December 01, 2023

Traffic cameras have become a hot-button issue around the country in recent years, provoking fights in city councils, local legislatures and state houses from Cincinnati to Des Moines to Phoenix. The main objections to the installation of both traffic cameras and red light cameras generally have to do with privacy concerns (is the government spying on me?) or accusations that they would be used for revenue generation (the city or county will use these cameras to issue extra citations to make up budget shortfalls).

While these objections are possibly rooted in genuine concern, they are based on some common misconceptions about what speed enforcement cameras are, how they work and what they are intended to accomplish. With traffic fatalities in America on the rise (and already higher than in peer countries), the need for effective, innovative solutions has never been more dire.

I think many people like the cameras because they save lives, but... who has access to the photo, do law enforce agencies need a warrant to search the photos. And can the photos be sold? Can a store ask for all the license plate numbers the people who drove into the store parking lot so they can send them ads?

Can the morality police ask for information of everyone who was at a trans support meeting? You laugh but we are now dealing with Trump's Department of Justice!

Consider face recognition camera. The Verge writes that,

“Even the people who first researched it said, yes, some tinpot dictator could use this software to try and ‘find the queers’ and then throw them in a camp,” says Keyes of the algorithm to detect sexual orientation. “And that isn’t hyperbole. In Chechnya, that’s exactly what they’ve been doing, and that’s without the aid of robots.”

Do you think that I'm paranoid?

That curse of the MAGA crew the Project on Government Oversight wrote...

A vast trove of documents are housed within the Florida governor’s Office of Policy and Budget: fiscal analyses, budget reports — the usual suspects. As of February, this office also holds a detailed list of the number of Florida college students who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria or who have sought gender-affirming medical care at state university medical clinics. That’s because Governor Ron DeSantis recently required universities to surrender transgender patients’ health data for what one state lawmaker called a “borderline registry of trans people.” 

Andy Pham, a senior at the University of South Florida who studies pre-med, was one of the numbers on his university’s list. Pham called the governor’s order “extraordinarily alarming” and voiced concerns about the privacy of the supposedly anonymized student health data.

It is a wild west out there with almost no laws governing the use of the date. Our data is out there! It is in our insurance records. It is our driver license records. It is our Social Security records. It is even in our electric company records! It is everywhere. Normally I would say "Who cares!" but with Trump & Company out there there is a little imp sitting on my shoulders whispering in my ear saying... Beware! Big Brother is watch you...