
How Uber Is Changing Drug Dealing - vincefutr23
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/how-uber-is-changing-drug-dealing
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brotherjerky
This seems like a non-story, the article even mentions how people used taxis
before.

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mc32
Even better is Uber can identify these fares, and, if they wanted to, could
report suspicious fares to authorities, who could follow up. Not that Uber is
required to, but they have the data to ferret out these 'salespeople'.

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stcredzero
If I were the cops, I'd have Uber and Lyft collect data and I'd have some
computer scientists develop algorithms for identifying such use patterns, then
use this to identify people who are manning the distribution networks. (Then
use this data not to arrest the small fry but to help identify people further
up the chain.)

On the cautionary flip side: Uber and Lyft data could be used in this way to
determine sub-cultural, religious, and political affiliations. Access to such
such data would entail tremendous power in terms of surveillance. (The same
goes for the real-time data Tesla collects.) We should perhaps think about
legal protections on such data.

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bad_user
If the data exists, then it will be abused, simple as that. There are no legal
protections to be had when intelligence agencies are given a carte blanche to
spy on their own taxpayers and do whatever they want. And so I think Uber and
Lyft should be banned from storing such data.

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stcredzero
I would rather that individuals be enabled to use DRM, but in the direction
that makes sense. It shouldn't be used by centralized organizations against
individuals. It should be used by distributed individuals against centralized
power. Individuals should be empowered to restrict access to their personal
information, or to delete it.

If the government can restrict Uber and Lyft from storing data, what's to stop
them from restricting individuals? (The usual pattern in the US is to have
exceedingly restrictive laws that the authorities can selectively enforce.)

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bad_user
You're assuming DRM is actually possible and so even justifiable, but DRM is
fundamentally broken.

> _If the government can restrict Uber and Lyft from storing data, what 's to
> stop them from restricting individuals?_

Data that can identify other people and break their privacy? Yes, please
restrict individuals as well. Privacy is surely going to be the battle of the
next century, if we don't nuke ourselves from orbit or destroy earth until
then.

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stcredzero
_You 're assuming DRM is actually possible and so even justifiable, but DRM is
fundamentally broken._

It is -- when used by centralized authorities, it certainly is. The hacking
expertise that can be mustered by the internet at large will always beat
whatever a single corporation or even government can manage. However, this is
precisely why it would be very usable by the public against centralized
organizations.

 _Yes, please restrict individuals as well._

Ensuring the freedom of individuals should be the whole point of society and
government. This is also why privacy is important.

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bad_user
No, you don't get it. DRM is fundamentally flawed from a technical
perspective. DRM can never work without coercing people into compliance by
means of force, threats and punishment.

Also society doesn't have a point or purpose, society being basically what
happens when you get a bunch of people together. And if governments have a
purpose, that would be ensuring the well-being of the citizens by proper usage
of force. As a society we've decided that this means protecting the rights of
individuals.

But what "freedom" are you talking about exactly? We've clearly decided as a
society that murdering other people or having slaves aren't freedoms worth
protecting.

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stcredzero
_No, you don 't get it. DRM is fundamentally flawed from a technical
perspective. DRM can never work without coercing people into compliance by
means of force, threats and punishment._

No, you don't get it. DRM is economically flawed because of asymmetries in
power/aggregate power controlled by individuals vs. centralized organizations.
DRM on behalf of individuals can work by coercing corporations into compliance
by means of regulations, threats, and punishment.

The exact things that make DRM bad when used by corporations make it
potentially very good when used by individuals against corporations. It is
basically the same privacy vs. openness arrow between individuals vs.
corporations. It's a public good for individuals to have privacy and
corporations to be open and transparent. It's horrible the other way around.
Likewise, it's a public good for individuals to have DRM to protect their data
against corporations. It's horrible the other way around.

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bruceb
Long article to tell you that people use transportation for different reasons.

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legodt
This is classic Vice journalism of turning a non-story into a puffed up scare-
piece all for a sexy, sharable title. I would really like to see less of their
poor excuse for journalism (Motherboard included) on HackerNews because links
like these really bring down overall quality. In the HN guidelines, the site
lays out a call for stories that go beyond superficially interesting and
provoke something deeper. Vice content rarely does this, and when it does, it
is often built on the back of sensationalism or shoddy journalistic integrity.

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sremani
This is a non-story, the real story is when autonomous vehicles deliver and
distribute drugs, since auto-pilot, ability to lock and unlock cars from whole
another city etc. I would be surprised if the Cartels do not employ autonomous
fleet for their distribution.

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tn13
Why people use the taxi is their business. All innovations including
cellphones, automobiles, internet etc. etc. must have helped drug dealing and
other illegal stuff.

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gm-conspiracy
I am curious how asset forfeiture laws apply to this.

With taxis and other livery drivers, the driver does not personally own the
vehicle.

Seems like quite a risk for any Uber/Lyft driver.

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dnautics
I had a trip on Lyft that was almost certainly a drug deal. Picked up a woman
at the holiday inn near fisherman's be wharf, drove down to the tl, circled
two blocks, another person got in, drove back to fisherman's wharf. I only
realized what had happened later that day, or I would have called it in to ban
the passenger (Lyft has a zero tolerance drug policy).

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jerrycabbage
Why is this voted up? Drug dealers are going to use Uber? Duh.

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honkhonkpants
A business with a tendency to move people and materials from points A to B on
short notice will be employed to market drugs. Remember Kozmo?

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technofiend
Next up - a sudden surge in the sale of "used clothing" when Amazon offers
door-to-door drone delivery.

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neil_s
In other news, How Uber is Changing LARPing - LARPers use Ubers to get around.

I usually love Vice, but this is nonsense.

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ShaneBonich
So, nothing new really

