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Re:Tencent Hy4 by InsideOutSanta on Wednesday November 04, 2026 @01:44PM (#50369807)
Last time I went to China, a friend left her phone in a taxi (I guess a "didi") near a train station. She ran to the train station's police station, pestered them into looking at the recordings, got them to tell her the license plate of the car, and figure out how to call the driver. Her phone was back 20 minutes later.

If you're going to be surveilled 24/7, at least you gotta make it work for you.

Re:Tencent Hy4 by aitchnyu on Wednesday November 04, 2026 @02:19PM (#50370262)
> figure out how to call the driver

Which country are you in where you cant take "call the driver" for granted?

Re:Tencent Hy4 by smw on Wednesday November 04, 2026 @03:07PM (#50370805)
Going from license plate to phone number would be one hell of an endeavor in most US states.
Re:Tencent Hy4 by axus on Wednesday November 04, 2026 @04:20PM (#50371714)
I expect the US police to have this capability; < 1% expectation that they would share it with a random citizen who walked in.
Re:Tencent Hy4 by taneq on Wednesday November 04, 2026 @06:03PM (#50372674)
“Powerless to help you, not powerless to harm you.”
Re:Tencent Hy4 by InsideOutSanta on Wednesday November 04, 2026 @03:36PM (#50371146)
I don't quite understand the question. If she had had her phone, she could have called the driver using the information from the didi app, but she had no phone, so she didn't know who to call.
Re:Tencent Hy4 by taneq on Wednesday November 04, 2026 @06:02PM (#50372671)
Herself, I’d have thought.
Re:Tencent Hy4 by InsideOutSanta on Thursday November 05, 2026 @03:25AM (#50376605)
Her phone doesn't ring.
Re:Tencent Hy4 by traceroute66 on Wednesday November 04, 2026 @06:39PM (#50372968)
> If you're going to be surveilled 24/7, at least you gotta make it work for you.

I don't get it.

There was CCTV at the station, your friend arrived in a taxi. And we're supposed to be amazed you can call up the taxi company and quote a numberplate off CCTV ?

Can be done anywhere in the world.

Would have been far more impressive story if she had arrived in a private car, dropped off by a work colleague or something.

Re:Tencent Hy4 by InsideOutSanta on Thursday November 05, 2026 @03:26AM (#50376621)
> And we're supposed to be amazed you can call up the taxi company and quote a numberplate off CCTV

No. It was just a thing that happened to me that I thought was funny and interesting, because running to the train police station and asking them to track the didi was not something I'd ever have thought to do.

I'm sorry my little anecdote didn't satisfy you.

Re:Tencent Hy4 by traceroute66 on Thursday November 05, 2026 @03:49AM (#50376799)
> I'm sorry my little anecdote didn't satisfy you.

It wasn't that. Its that you made a reference to the Chinese surveillance state in the same post. Your example didn't fit the evil-bogeyman narrative.

Sorry if I was unclear there.

Re:Tencent Hy4 by InsideOutSanta on Thursday November 05, 2026 @04:57AM (#50377294)
> Your example didn't fit the evil-bogeyman narrative you were aiming for

What in the world are you talking about. If anything, I wasn't sure if recollecting that anecdote was minimizing the harm of being surveilled constantly. The last thing I expected was being accused of an "evil-bogeyman narrative."

> Sorry if I was unclear there.

Yes, thanks for clarifying. Now I understand that this has nothing to do with me or what I wrote and is 100% projection on your part.

Re:Tencent Hy4 by traceroute66 on Thursday November 05, 2026 @08:16AM (#50378715)
> What in the world are you talking about.

You used the words "If you're going to be surveilled 24/7, at least you gotta make it work for you."

The implication being quite clear you were inferring it was only possible in China's surveillance state, when it was not.

How about we cordially agree to disagree and move on ?

Re:Tencent Hy4 by InsideOutSanta on Friday November 06, 2026 @04:03AM (#50389904)
> The implication being quite clear you were inferring it was only possible in China's surveillance state, when it was not.

Jesus fucking Christ.

Re:Tencent Hy4 by Asooka on Thursday November 05, 2026 @02:02AM (#50376046)
Last time I did that, I called my phone from my friend's phone, asked the driver to come back, and paid him for the trip.
Re:Tencent Hy4 by InsideOutSanta on Thursday November 05, 2026 @03:27AM (#50376624)
Her phone doesn't ring.