The algorithm in your rearview
Already real-looking AI videos of anthropomorphic wild animals litter my social media feeds. None of them can be trusted. My reaction to them aligns with my policy toward conspiracy theories: I believe none of them and I accept the risk of missing one somewhere in the pile that is real and being out of the know. Knock yourself out doing your own research. Life’s too short.
The number of daily fundraising texts to which I now reply “Stop” or “End” then “delete conversation” now nearly rivals the number of texts from friends and family. They come from candidates and causes and lists I’ve never heard of and for which I never never signed up.
The emails that pop in every day that spam filters miss has increased. The routine is rote now. Spot the no-name domain either gibberish or having no connection to the subject line, then hit “Block all senders using @blahblahblah” followed by “Trash all previous email from this sender.”
The annoying digital flood on our devices is out of control. But at least one retains some control. It’s the digital intrusion that leads to a police stop that one cannot simply ignore with a keystroke.
The U.S. Border Patrol is monitoring millions of American drivers nationwide in a secretive program to identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious, The Associated Press has found.
The predictive intelligence program has resulted in people being stopped, searched and in some cases arrested. A network of cameras scans and records vehicle license plate information, and an algorithm flags vehicles deemed suspicious based on where they came from, where they were going and which route they took. Federal agents in turn may then flag local law enforcement.
Suddenly, drivers find themselves pulled over — often for reasons cited such as speeding, failure to signal, the wrong window tint or even a dangling air freshener blocking the view. They are then aggressively questioned and searched, with no inkling that the roads they drove put them on law enforcement’s radar.
While masked Border Patrol thugs stop people for shopping at Home Depot or driving while brown, the same kind of algorithms that target your devices with unwanted spam now may result in a pretextural roadside police inquiry.
AP’s investigation finds:
The Border Patrol has for years hidden details of its license plate reader program, trying to keep any mention of the program out of court documents and police reports, former officials say, even going so far as to propose dropping charges rather than risk revealing any details about the placement and use of their covert license plate readers. Readers are often disguised along highways in traffic safety equipment like drums and barrels.
Intelligence services bug rival nations’ embassies. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol bugs I-35 and its siblings. Its algorithms monitor your daily comings and goings. For your safety, of course.
Happy motoring!
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