

EFF Guide to Street Level Surveillance - aestetix
https://www.eff.org/sls

======
flashman
I would like to see them cover Bluetooth and 802.11-based tracking. Most
people I've talked to are unaware that their wifi device periodically sends
out probe requests containing its unique MAC address (some more frequently
than others, in my testing), which can be used to correlate your location and
build a profile.

It's not even difficult, I set up a Raspberry Pi to do it and graphed the
arrival and departure times of individual workers in my office. There are
businesses putting tracking across a constellation of retail partners, then
selling the partners information about what other stores their customers
visited.

And yes, I'm aware that iOS 8 is supposed to randomize your MAC address to
guard against this (cynically I'd say it helps them push iBeacons) but as of
September 2014, it wasn't really working as you'd expect:
[http://www.imore.com/closer-look-ios-8s-mac-
randomization](http://www.imore.com/closer-look-ios-8s-mac-randomization)

~~~
imglorp
Don't forget EZ-Pass. There are readers on various major roads around here,
not in a toll capacity. I think they're used by state DOT to assess traffic
flow.

Eg: [http://www.autoblog.com/2011/06/27/e-zpass-privacy-
invasion/](http://www.autoblog.com/2011/06/27/e-zpass-privacy-invasion/)

and:
[http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/09/12/e-zpasses...](http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/09/12/e-zpasses-
get-read-all-over-new-york-not-just-at-toll-booths/)

~~~
slxh
Don't forget the RFID tags in your car wheels (TPMS and probably tires):
[http://www.computerworld.com/article/2519983/data-
privacy/ti...](http://www.computerworld.com/article/2519983/data-privacy/tire-
pressure-monitor-systems-could-reveal-driver-location.html)

~~~
nitrogen
Tire serial numbers are registered with the DOT, too, AFAIK.

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zmanian
There are an emerging set of strategies at the local level for mitigating
street level surveillance.

It consists of watching your city council agenda for consent to purchase new
surveillance technology via Department of Homeland Security grant.

Use this occasion to push for a privacy policy that governs the new equipment
as a condition of purchase.

Restore the Fourth SF Bay Area, Oakland Privacy et al are seeing a pattern
emerge where the purchase is either delayed or the privacy policy is adopted.

It's often possible to sign up for email alerts of the agenda for city council
meetings.

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themodelplumber
This is such a great opportunity. I hope they can expand the content to
include information like 1) where should I look for it and 2) what do I do
when I encounter it. This could help bring the general concerns out of
that's-so-tinfoil territory and make the content more shareable with the
general public.

~~~
cronjobber
To make your analogy more precise, the article is in _that 's-so-mind-control-
rays_ territory. Your proposed addition would be, "wear a tinfoil hat!"

~~~
idle_processor
Not necessarily.

The "tinfoil hat" approach is a personal-scope solution.

Part of the "what do I do when I encounter it" course of action could involve
a societal-scope solution. E.g., getting involved with privacy advocacy groups
or pressuring relevant lawmakers to roll overreach back. (This is, admittedly,
far more work and far less likely to succeed.)

------
njharman
by Street Level I hoped they meant "tails", direct (camera, video, shotgun
mike), that kind of thing.

