
'Barnacle' car windscreen clamp sparks student fury - hhs
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-51133807
======
Keverw
I'm surprised this stuff is still legal, especially since even chalking tires
was ruled to be trespassing and a illegal search, and looks like this is a
public school too so government ran. Some of the law school students should
get together and file a section 1983 civil rights lawsuit, use it to pay off
some of that student debt!

[https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/chalking-tires-
enforce-...](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/chalking-tires-enforce-
parking-rules-unconstitutional-court-finds-n997326) or
[https://www.npr.org/2019/04/23/716248823/court-says-using-
ch...](https://www.npr.org/2019/04/23/716248823/court-says-using-chalk-on-
tires-for-parking-enforcement-violates-constitution)

So now cities have to use licence plate recognition cameras and location GPS
data to see if a car moved or not since chalking is illegal, but I'm sure
cities are unaware of this and still are illegally chalking cars - until
someone sues and get a huge payout. Then some cities will arrest people
because their children drew on the sidewalk using chalk, considering it
vandalizing even though it washes off in the rain.

~~~
totalZero
OU is in a shambles right now, from an administrative standpoint, due to a
double-transition of its leadership.

I'm willing to bet that the parking enforcement people never questioned the
legality of the device, asked few questions about its legality, and assume its
existence is proof of its legality.

------
drongoking
"One poster on social news site Reddit claimed he had been able to extract a
mobile network Sim card from one of the devices, and used it to access the
internet for free."

When life gives you lemons, dig the sim cards out of them and get free
internet.

------
tropo
A car has a VIN. It likely has a plate, registration, and title. The owner
should be easy to determine. With that, go to court.

The devices risk damaging cars and they risk creating emergency situations by
disabling cars.

~~~
Keverw
Yep, I seen people in a RV group talk about these. Some Walmart stores are
using them on truck drivers and RVers who stay over the night. I believe it's
a contractor Walmart hires though, not actual Walmart employees. I think it's
insane a private company is even allowed to do this stuff, and some people
said they'd yank it off and if their windshield cracked put a claim in with
the companies insurance company.

However I don't think private booting or these devices is legal in every state
or even varies by city in some states. Someone was sleeping inside, woken up
after they put on the device and they wanted 500 dollars to remove the device.
I'm surprised some truck driver in the South like Texas that's more gun
friendly doesn't get woken up thinking he's being robbed and ends up shooting
one of these contractors by mistake. There's stories where people have
mistakenly woke up and even shot their own family who came home too late
thinking someone was breaking in, so surprised this hasn't happened yet if
someone is really tired and startled not realizing what's happening yet.
Probably would be a big highly profiled national case if something like that
happen though, and people who aren't a fan of all this parking stuff probably
would side with the trucker, so doubt they'd be impartial enough. I don't
think parking enforcement would be a job I'd enjoy, probably so many angry
people daily, and not sure if I'd want to work alone at night in a dark
parking lot waking up people, especially with the trucking shortage.

Found an article about this:
[https://www.truckingtruth.com/news/Article-94/barnacle-
boot-...](https://www.truckingtruth.com/news/Article-94/barnacle-boot-device)

~~~
deogeo
> I think it's insane a private company is even allowed to do this stuff

I wonder if this private enforcement of law goes both ways - can a car owner
barricade Walmart's entrance to force Walmart to pay them what they've
unilaterally decided they're owed?

~~~
colejohnson66
What Walmart is doing may be legal though if they own the parking lot.
Deciding to block an entrance could be illegal, though I’m not aware of any
case law around it.

------
aaron695
Here's how to get it off , and get free internet (Why this is trending)-

[https://twitter.com/saallyjohnsonn/status/121719070339206758...](https://twitter.com/saallyjohnsonn/status/1217190703392067584)

~~~
chendragon
Wouldn't it be trivial for the company to track where the SIM is being used to
find out who's done this?

------
kstenerud
Another way to destroy a program like this would be to vandalize barnacles
wherever you see them. Nobody is going to report you (because everyone hates
them). The car owner will be assumed responsible, and held hostage for the
damage done to the barnacle.

Then sit back and watch the extortion lawsuits fly. The program won't last
long.

------
anon463637
If someone takes out the SIM to use it for internet that they didn't have a
right/permission to use, that sounds a lot like theft of services. It's
usually a criminal offense, and that could follow someone around for years to
come. Plus, $2000+ in legal defense costs. I wouldn't risk it.

------
falcor84
I'm failing to understand what exactly sparked the fury. To me this sounds
much nicer than the alternative.

~~~
moioci
The article is not entirely clear, but I suspect that the threshold to deploy
the Barnacle is lower than for towing. For example, would they really call the
tow truck for a car with three unpaid tickets? And if a vehicle is parked
blocking a fire lane or an entrance, they'll still have to have it towed, so
there's not a one-to-one correspondence between the use cases.

------
okigan
Students pay 30$ extra for usage of the “barnacle” in addition to the fine.

~~~
Cpoll
I imagine that's cheaper than paying for the towing fee that's the
alternative?

~~~
Lammy
> Mr Dougherty said improvements had since been made to the design of the
> barnacle, and said 40,000 had been deployed and returned without incident.

Sounds like they make it up in volume. I doubt they'd get a tow truck out
there 40000 times.

