Government informant? -- There's an app for that...

gizmodo.com

Apparently even big brother has an app for turning in all those terrorists around you

I've been saying for years that they would eventually try to make everyday people into the terrorists, and every day I'm proved more correct... Of course many on ATS have been saying it even longer...

This App Turns You Into a Government Informer
The state of West Virginia has developed an app that will turn people into government informants: the Suspicious Activity Reporting Application. It's an app loaded with good intentions, but it could go very bad in very little time.

According to the West Virginian authorities in charge of the project, their app is designed "to submit tips concerning suspicious criminal and terrorist activity." That includes location data, description of the scene and, preferably, a photo.

It's not a bad idea. You can imagine a lot of good uses for it, and, not surprisingly, that's just how the authorities justify it:

The longer you wait the less accurate eyewitness information becomes and evidence fades. Enabling the information to be sent at the time the activity is taking place will not only improve the accuracy of the report, but also improve the ability of the authorities to respond quickly.

Not a bad idea? What funky type of pipe has this journalist been smoking?

I guess I should throw in the obligatory Benjamin Franklin quote here:

Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.

link

We need to stand up and say no more while there is still time!

reply to post by pianopraze


So if your neighbor is pissing you off (like the age old "who's fence is it?") you can just "inform" on them, then sit back and watch the 6am SWAT team raid his house looking for all that terrorist material.

Yeah..

So many ways this can be abused.. is our government run by imbeciles? I think so..

I'm highly tempted to download this app and send in a picture of my male part, saying something like "It has a mind of it's own!!! When it sees a female, I'm afraid it might explode!!"

Originally posted by Rockpuck
So many ways this can be abused.. is our government run by imbeciles? I think so..

I second this!
Can you imagine....I would love to see all of the revenge turn ins they get.

Can just see it now...your ex ticking you off...
Just turn em in. Make something up...you know!

Playing devil's advocate here, but wouldn't you think they have some form of punishment for falsifying a report? Kind of like calling 911 accidentally. It sure seems that they would have put this into their design thinking, but then again, how stupid of me to assume thought was actually used in making an app like this.

Mabye its the looks on the guys faces that makes me think this
could be easlily abused. Those dictators are all laughing!