
The Unsettling Rise of the Urban Narc App - cienega
https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2019/08/311-app-parking-ticket-traffic-citation-bike-lane-privacy/596260/
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susiecambria
Looking at this from another perspective.

Having worked in the DC city government for several years and for several
nonprofits doing public policy analysis and advocacy, I somewhat understand
the challenges on both sides. On the public side, people want systems to work
better. On the government side, staff are doing what their
director/mayor/governor/grantor wants while the public is saying yes or
(hell!) no.

But the fact is that there is not unlimited time or money. So while it's good
that people report bike lane violations and illegal dumping to 311, I would
venture to say that not all are treated equally. And as an insider and
outsider, I understand that this is the case.

In my mind, gathering and reporting (the apps) is as important as working with
(educating, lobbying) government officials so both parties understand the
situation and work towards some resolution.

All of this to say that the apps are cool and make people feel like they are
doing something. And in some ways they are. But real change usually requires
much more intensive work than reporting a bike lane violation. (Don't get me
wrong. I wanted to drive tow trucks to move cars out of curb lanes during rush
hour on my vacation days! Learn a new skill! Help others!)

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mft_
As it finally says in the last paragraph: _" In other words, it’s government
inaction, not the technology itself, that’s conscripted this militia into
surveilling their fellow citizens through their doorbells and their
smartphones."_

If bike lanes aren’t protected sufficiently by law-enforcement leading to
examples of cyclists dying, what else are people expected to do other than
harness legitimate routes to try to effect a change? It's not indiscriminate
snooping - it's citizen activism.

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nickthemagicman
Build better public transit? Modern society seems to have switched from a
society that enables people to a society that punishes people to solve
problems.

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MuffinFlavored
I always feared of a blockchain-backed "narc app" similar to LinkedIn, but
with a less positive outlook.

Got fired from your last job for being an asshat? Better hope your team +
manager don't get together and write a permanent, decentralized, forever
record on all of the things you did wrong.

Spin it to the dating app sector:

Cheated on your last 5 girlfriends rampantly? If they all submit records on
it, your 6th would-be-girlfriend can look it up and save herself the
heartache.

Driving like a dick in traffic? Better hope your insurance company doesn't
check. Being rude in your previous apartment complex? Would-be landlord will
found out.

Complaints, backed by blockchain. Kind of like the whole publicized outlook on
"if you see a citizen in China wearing luxury name brand clothing but they are
in debt, you should scorn them".

~~~
maxheadroom
The worst is the reality that people could (and would) use it for libelous
purposes; such as vindictive exes (no matter the sex), or people with
stability problems, or the like.

~~~
MuffinFlavored
I don't disagree. I wonder what "verification" purposes can be done though.

I think eventually we'll have some online security mechanism where you only
get one _identity_ and it is backed/authed all the way down to your SSN.

One report wouldn't be enough, but 3-4 decentralized + SSN-backed reports...
big enough trend that it might be true.

~~~
heavenlyblue
Nah, it’s not that you “don’t disagree” - it’s just that many of those crypto-
anarchist ideas get destroyed when meeting the actually real life.

In this case the easiness of writing fake reviews is what makes it unusable.
That’s actually the same reason why decentralised social networks aren’t yet a
commodity.

This problem is very well known and is an incredibly popular reason why those
ideas don’t work in the first place.

~~~
MuffinFlavored
> In this case the easiness of writing fake reviews is what makes it unusable.

If it is authed all the way down to your SSN, how is it fake?

~~~
heavenlyblue
If it's authed all the way down to your SSN, it means that government owns the
identities used in the system.

What exactly do you need a blockchain for in such a scenario? Ah right - the
unchangeability.

Well, then it means that in all scenarios with the stolen identities we would
need to provide for a mechanism to delete the reviews, based on the
government-provided data on distrusted SSNs.

In a scenario where we don't allow the reviews to be post-deleted, we are
rampantly increasing the value of stealing an identity, which means that the
motivation for that goes up a lot.

Now, it means that the only entity that is actually responsible for the
correctness of the data in our database is the government.

Now, why do you need a blockchain for that if you could simply have a database
backed by the government in the first place?

