Amber Alert Sentry Service

[Snowstorm]

I received an Amber Alert last week about a missing girl. I checked my surrounding for a bit didn’t see the suspect’s plate. It was canceled the next morning after she was found dead, killed by her estranged father.

It occurred to me that our vehicles have the cameras, computers, and connectivity necessary to be automatic Amber Alert sentries. These alerts can be sent to our cars, and they would automatically scan nearby cars for the suspect, reporting to the owner and maybe even police automatically. AP can recognize cars (which have plates in predictable spots), and AP will eventually need to read signs, so reading license plates seems like a very possible step.

I wish Tesla would consider that.

 

[MarcusMaximus]

I received an Amber Alert last week about a missing girl. I checked my surrounding for a bit didn’t see the suspect’s plate. It was canceled the next morning after she was found dead, killed by her estranged father.

It occurred to me that our vehicles have the cameras, computers, and connectivity necessary to be automatic Amber Alert sentries. These alerts can be sent to our cars, and they would automatically scan nearby cars for the suspect, reporting to the owner and maybe even police automatically. AP can recognize cars (which have plates in predictable spots), and AP will eventually need to read signs, so reading license plates seems like a very possible step.

I wish Tesla would consider that.

Suggest it to Elon on Twitter. He might just do it.

 

[Snowstorm]

I don’t tweet, but maybe I will just sign up for an account just for this...

 

[TacC]

This is a great idea. There is a lot of promise in crowd-sourcing in these types of events. In areas like California where Tesla cars are on every block, lives can be saved.

I'd like to see a feature where you can opt-in to have your car send camera footage to Tesla if a nearby Tesla has been stolen or broken in to.

 

[whitex]

So turn all Teslas into rolling fleet of license plate readers? What could go wrong?
Slashdot

 

[Snowstorm]

So turn all Teslas into rolling fleet of license plate readers? What could go wrong?
Slashdot

It doesn’t have to send every potential hit to the police automatically, it can alert the driver to take a closer look to confirm, if they would choose to participate. There is a lot of untapped power here waiting to be harnessed.

 

[Mark_T]

It doesn’t have to send every potential hit to the police automatically, it can alert the driver to take a closer look to confirm, if they would choose to participate. There is a lot of untapped power here waiting to be harnessed.

I think you may be over-estimating just how much power there is going spare, especially given that anything before HW2.5 can't even manage to run the dash-cam facility...

 

[TacC]

So turn all Teslas into rolling fleet of license plate readers? What could go wrong?
Slashdot

This may resonate with some folks that haven't had their cars or property stolen. I'm not clutching my pearls. If the downside is being detained for 40 minutes, count me in.

It took three weeks and $1000 to get the window replaced in our X. Never got our son's backpack back. Also, no word yet on when our peace of mind will be replaced.

Surveillance works: CCTV in London

 

[Mark_T]

Surveillance works: CCTV in London

... and there is a reason that those cameras are placed high up and out of reach so they cannot be destroyed.

Make every Tesla a rolling surveillance vehicle and how long will it be before damaging Tesla cameras becomes a thing...

 

[whitex]

This may resonate with some folks that haven't had their cars or property stolen. I'm not clutching my pearls. If the downside is being detained for 40 minutes, count me in.

It took three weeks and $1000 to get the window replaced in our X. Never got our son's backpack back. Also, no word yet on when our peace of mind will be replaced.

Surveillance works: CCTV in London

I have had stuff stolen from me, and a $100K car (Model S) totaled by a hit-and-run driver who was never caught (even though we know their name, have them on video), yet a surveillance police state does not resonate with me at all. You probably subscribe "if you're doing nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide", I don't - I happen to value privacy. As for being detained for 40 minutes, that's just a recent example, people have been thrown to the ground/mud, or even have their arm broken during fake license place reports. Maybe you would rather spend 40 minutes laying in cold mud with your family while driving to visit relatives, or have your son's arm broken, be it only once in your life, for an increased chance of recovering his backpack, should it ever get stolen. I don't. Not to mention what @Mark_T said, once it become known all Teslas are government surveillance, they become targets for the same vandalism as surveillance cameras.

 

[chillaban]

I have had stuff stolen from me, and a $100K car (Model S) totaled by a hit-and-run driver who was never caught (even though we know their name, have them on video), yet a surveillance police state does not resonate with me at all. You probably subscribe "if you're doing nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide", I don't - I happen to value privacy. As for being detained for 40 minutes, that's just a recent example, people have been thrown to the ground/mud, or even have their arm broken during fake license place reports. Maybe you would rather spend 40 minutes laying in cold mud with your family while driving to visit relatives, or have your son's arm broken, be it only once in your life, for an increased chance of recovering his backpack, should it ever get stolen. I don't. Not to mention what @Mark_T said, once it become known all Teslas are government surveillance, they become targets for the same vandalism as surveillance cameras.

Ditto.

As soon as you build functionality like this, it’s only a matter of time before law enforcement agencies and government entities start using access to it as a bargaining chip for regulatory approval or whatnot, or if you’re in the US, just start suing you to comply.

The best way to stop that conversation is to not build limited forms of facial recognition / plate readers. Not to mention the whole world of license plate readers is encumbered in patents. For a company that can’t even seem to properly license Sesame Street characters, maybe they should stick to their forte of driving tech.

 

[Canuck]

I happen to value privacy.

That's nice but you're fooling yourself if you think we have any. The problem gov't has is not access to legal eavesdropping -- any privacy rights we had left were completely abolished after 9/11 -- including the right to even know about it -- but Snowden showed us that everything we do is recorded and banked with immunity by the gov't. Snowden is the criminal -- and perhaps so, but that's for another thread. The problem gov't has is going through the data accumulated to find what they want -- because it's so voluminous that what's needed, and is important, is often lost in the clutter.

I like the OP's idea -- there should be an "opt-in" though -- so we can at least "believe" we have some privacy rights left.

 

[whitex]

That's nice but you're fooling yourself if you think we have any. The problem gov't has is not access to legal eavesdropping -- any privacy rights we had left were completely abolished after 9/11 -- including the right to even know about it -- but Snowden showed us that everything we do is recorded and banked with immunity by the gov't. Snowden is the criminal -- and perhaps so, but that's for another thread. The problem gov't has is going through the data accumulated to find what they want -- because it's so voluminous that what's needed, and is important, is often lost in the clutter.

I like the OP's idea -- there should be an "opt-in" though -- so we can at least "believe" we have some privacy rights left.

I am aware that privacy is dead, but that doesn't mean I want to further the cause of collecting ever more data. Just because privacy is dead, doesn't mean I'd vote for mandatory webcams in people's houses, bathrooms, showers - even if that meant we could catch a few more bad guys.

 

[MarcusMaximus]

This seems a little silly. As described(bringing up a pop-up with a picture of the back of the car asking to confirm), it would do little more than simplifying the system that already exists for Amber Alert. Hardly the privacy-invading police state system being suggested here.

 

[Skipdd]

I am aware that privacy is dead, but that doesn't mean I want to further the cause of collecting ever more data. Just because privacy is dead, doesn't mean I'd vote for mandatory webcams in people's houses, bathrooms, showers - even if that meant we could catch a few more bad guys.

Don’t worry with all the IoT stuff bombarding us it’s only a matter of time before that happens anyway. You pretty much have to either be a security engineer, or hire one to get just a basic level of security in your house. For now, you can avoid buying “smart appliances,” that have dumb security. Eventually almost everything will have built in stuff, then I will be hiring a security engineer. And yes, I realize the irony of owning a Tesla. Tesla’s security is acceptable to me.

 

[whitex]

Don’t worry with all the IoT stuff bombarding us it’s only a matter of time before that happens anyway. You pretty much have to either be a security engineer, or hire one to get just a basic level of security in your house. For now, you can avoid buying “smart appliances,” that have dumb security. Eventually almost everything will have built in stuff, then I will be hiring a security engineer. And yes, I realize the irony of owning a Tesla. Tesla’s security is acceptable to me.

I do happen to work in cyber-security. Avoid buying any "smart" devices. The ones I do have, are all crippled without internet connectivity, plus monitored just to make sure they don't try any tricks to get out. I don't kid myself. I assume my computers and phones are at any time under control of at least two state actors (US, China, Russia are prime candidates). No, they don't necessarily run anything on my devices, but could at any time, should they decide to, using whatever zero day exploits or built-in back-doors. I still don't think it would be good for Tesla, or most people, for Teslas to become a rolling surveillance fleet.

 

[Joelgjr]

No. No no no. Way too many flaws.