That's really the galling bit, isn't it? There's a lot of [imho] justified outrage about the liberties taken by government enforcement groups, but that they also seem to be lousy at it is unsettling. On the one hand the carelessness is worrying, but on the other I feel reassured they'll never get their act together well enough for a full MiniLove. There's a terrifying potential for finesse in oppressive targeting - and reports tell of it happening - but it seems to botch and backfire enough to keep it public and exposed. At least, some industrious reporter or watchdog hacker will spot it and publicize it.

So perhaps we just need to get better at exploiting that propensity to screw up. Though it's a bit worrying incompetence is one of our checks and balances on the government.

^ this. so now we know the govt may not be on top of it enough to really utilize this info, but it is all out there..and when these activities get privatized, there will be a larger cause for concern

If you want to talk about private companies already conducting appalling and creepy levels of tracking, look no further than downtown Palo Alto - Palantir has got you covered.

Shhh! They're listening!

What makes you think private companies aren't already doing this? I was making a license plate tracker back in '97 by myself with no budget.

How did that turn out?

The OCR was not quite up to snuff or the cameras, but it would work in ideal conditions (they had to come to a complete stop, full daylight etc.). I had no real reason to do it other than I thought it could be done.