[568] in Privacy_Forum
[ PRIVACY Forum ] Cops Just Want to Have Fun? Amusing Site or Out of
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (privacy@vortex.com)
Fri Jan 1 20:54:53 2010
Date: Fri, 1 Jan 2010 17:29:46 -0800
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Cops Just Want to Have Fun? Amusing Site or Out of Bounds?
http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000660.html
Greetings and Happy New Year!
I hadn't planned a blog post for today, but in the course of research
a few hours ago I stumbled across a site that at first had me
chuckling, but that I found increasingly disturbing the more I thought
about its privacy and other implications. I'll provide the link at
the end of this item -- as we proceed you'll understand why I'd prefer
that you read this posting entirely before considering if you want to
actually visit the site for yourself.
Dedicated to "The lighter side of law enforcement," it's sort of
loosely like a giant wacky Facebook for cops, but includes photos that
likely would violate Facebook's terms of use -- and that of most other
(non-porn) sites.
The site is apparently registered to an individual in New York. While
it may not be officially affiliated with police departments, the
nature of the contents suggests that the site enjoys the cooperation
in some manner of various police agencies and personnel.
The silly, off-color, and other jokes, plus a wide range of associated
oddities, can easily be viewed as folks in a tough job letting off
some steam.
But one section of the site, featuring an array of mostly uncensored
photos of fully naked men and women interacting with police in various
public contexts (protests, arrests, etc.) seems highly problematic,
especially since the lack of any "masking" of photos makes many of the
individuals completely identifiable.
It's one thing to argue that such photos show the reality of what law
enforcement deals with, or that the photos' subjects were in public
contexts where they had no expectation of privacy.
But the juxtaposition of these photos within a joke-filled "lighter
side" Web site suggests that the images are present to amuse and
titillate, not teach and inform.
One also can't help but wonder where these photos originated.
Bystanders? Official police photography? On the scene media?
Regardless of the sources for the photos and other materials, the
apparent "nod and wink" (if not fully active) association of various
police agencies with this site strikes me as rather inappropriate at
the very least.
But perhaps I'm being too sensitive about this and it's all just in
good fun with no real privacy implications at all. Or perhaps some of
the site's materials being displayed as they are actually do break
privacy laws in some jurisdictions. I won't even try to pass judgment
at this point. You can make up your own mind.
The site is called "The Police Daily" ( http://bit.ly/4Br7l2 ).
Their adult-oriented section can be reached via the "Police Flashers"
link in the navigation bar on the left side of their home page.
Frankly, I don't want to link to that section directly.
All in good fun? Or taking the "lighter side" of law enforcement too
far?
What do you think?
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren@vortex.com
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
- People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, NNSquad
- Network Neutrality Squad - http://www.nnsquad.org
Founder, GCTIP - Global Coalition
for Transparent Internet Performance - http://www.gctip.org
Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein
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